Had it not been for the damning report submitted by Inspector General of Police (CID-Crime), Geetha Johri, the high-profile accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case would never have been arrested. IPS officers D G Vanjhara, Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh M N have only her to blame for their current predicament.

Gujarat’s first woman IPS officer, Johri took over the case following a Supreme Court directive on the habeas corpus petition filed by Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin. The plea sought to know the status of Sohrabuddin’s wife Kausar Bi, who went missing after her husband was killed in the encounter on November 26, 2005.

Burning holes in the Vanjhara and company’s story that Shaikh was a LeT militant out to kill BJP leaders, most probably Chief Minister Narendra Modi, it was Johri’s preliminary inquiry report that suggested for the first time that it was murder in cold blood.

After six months of piecing together every detail surrounding the events, Johri concluded that her IPS colleagues needed to answer some questions. An uncomfortable establishment hit back by taking the case away from her. But the ball had already started rolling.

Despite the best attempts to shield the officers involved, her meticulous work, done along with Detective Inspector (CID-Crime) V L Solanki, helped her successor DIG Rajnish Rai slap murder charges and arrest the top cops. It also helped unravel the mystery behind Bi’s disappearance.

Having served in not-so-happening posts for some years (she was Principal, Police Training School, Vadodara before coming to CID), it was thought that she would prove to be a pliant officer after being rewarded. She proved everyone wrong.

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