Three more policemen were arrested today in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake-encounter case and the subsequent killing of his wife Kausar Bi.

Inspector N H Dabhi, head constable Santram Sharma and constable Ajay Parmar were all with the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) when it was headed by DIG D G Vanjhara, one of the three IPS officers arrested in the case. Charged with murder, conspiracy, destroying evidence, kidnapping and wrongfully confining a person, they will be produced in court tomorrow.

It was on the basis of Parmar’s testimony that Inspector-General of Police Geeta Johri’s first inquiry report into the killing of Sheikh raised serious questions about the ATS’s encounter claim. On his statement, Johri’s report had said that Sheikh and his wife were picked up by an ATS team from a Hyderabad-Sangli bus.

Parmar had detailed how the team, led by then SP (Operations) Rajkumar Pandian, had gone to Hyderabad, stayed at the CRPF mess there, faked licence plates for two vehicles, intercepted the bus, and brought the Sheikh couple to Ahmedabad.

The report quoted him as saying he was asked to bring a motorcycle to fake an encounter near Vishala toll naka in Ahmedabad, after which the ATS announced that Sohrabuddin had been killed there. He also said that Dabhi fired three rounds along with some Rajasthan policemen.

At the time of the encounter, Dabhi was with the ATS, Parmar was PA to Pandian, and Sharma was Pandian’s gunman. At present, Dabhi is posted in CID (Intelligence), Parmar is on deputation with Gujarat Electricity Board, Sabarmati, and Sharma with the State Reserve Police.