imported>GreenC bot: Rescued 2 archive links; reformat 2 links. Wayback Medic 2.5

2021-04-16T17:34:21Z

Rescued 2 archive links; reformat 2 links. Wayback Medic 2.5

New page

'''Tulsiram Prajapati''' was a man, who was killed while in custody at 5 am on 28 December 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/prajapati-killing-trial-against-former-gujarat-minister-amit-shah-stayed-502160|title=Prajapati killing: Trial against former Gujarat minister Amit Shah stayed|website=NDTV.com|date=18 October 2012}}</ref> The case is widely believed<ref name=hindu/> to have been an [[encounter killing]] by the [[Gujarat Police]]. DIG [[D.G. Vanzara]] has been in jail for seven years, on charges of having organised this encounter, among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/vanzara-letter-636519.html|title=Gujarat IPS officer Vanzara quits, says his 'god' Modi shielding Amit Shah|date=Sep 3, 2013|publisher=CNN-IBN}}</ref>

On 8 April 2011, the [[Supreme Court of India]] directed the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]] (CBI) to take up the investigation.<ref name=hindu>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Supreme-Court-orders-probe-into-all-fake-encounters-in-Gujarat/article13381810.ece|title=Supreme Court orders probe into all fake encounters in Gujarat|first=J.|last=Venkatesan|date=25 January 2012|via=www.thehindu.com|newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref>

==Amit Shah arrest in the case==

The case came into prominence in 2012, when the CBI, in its chargesheet, listed Gujarat home minister and leading [[BJP]] politician [[Amit Shah]] as the "kingpin and prime accused"<ref>
{{cite news
| title = Tulsiram Prajapati encounter: CBI names Amit Shah as kingpin
| publisher = Indian Express
| url = http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/tulsiram-prajapati-encounter-cbi-names-amit-shah-as-kingpin/1004520/
| date = Sep 18, 2012
}}</ref> in the case. Amit Shah was arrested in October 2012. Earlier, an unprecedented total of 32 police officers, including six [[Indian Police Service|IPS]] officers including Vanzara, had been arrested for the series of "encounter deaths".<ref name=letter>{{Cite web | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-modi-was-my-god-amitbhai-usurped-his-eyes-and-ears-/1164159/ | title=Excerpts from Vanzara's letter: Modi was my god - Indian Express}}</ref>

According to the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]], Prajapati was a witness to the encounter death of [[Sohrabuddin Shaikh]] in 2005, and this was why he had to be eliminated.<ref>http://www.tehelka.com/story_main30.asp?filename=Ne120507Death_by_CS.asp&id=2</ref>

The encounter killing took place in [[Banaskantha]] district. Vanzara, known to be close to Amit Shah and [[Narendra Modi]], the [[List of chief ministers of Gujarat|Chief Minister of Gujarat]] at the time, had been transferred there as DIG Border range just 13 days earlier. Shah claimed that the transfer was an administrative move, not connected to the encounter.<ref>
{{cite news
| title = CBI to question Amit Shah again in Prajapati case
| author = Vinay Kumar
| publisher = The Hindu
| url = http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/cbi-to-question-amit-shah-again-in-prajapati-case/article2788919.ece
| date = January 10, 2012
}}</ref>

==Possible involvement in Haren Pandya assassination==
In September 2013, after six years in prison, Vanzara who called Modi "my God", became disgruntled,<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/printarticle.aspx?page=comments&action=translate&sectid=2&contentid=2013090420130904030303562a3d65975&subsite= |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606221030/http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/printarticle.aspx?page=comments&action=translate&sectid=2&contentid=2013090420130904030303562a3d65975&subsite= |archive-date=2014-06-06 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| title = DG Vanzara on Narendra Modi: My 'god' has betrayed me
| author = PTI
| date = Sep 3, 2013
| url = http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-03/india/41725953_1_tulsi-prajapati-gujarat-cid-amit-shah
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130905125006/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-03/india/41725953_1_tulsi-prajapati-gujarat-cid-amit-shah
| url-status = dead
| work = [[The Times of India]]
| archive-date = September 5, 2013
}}</ref> and apparently claimed a connection between the Tulsiram Prajapati and the unsolved murder of ex-BJP minister [[Haren Pandya]],<ref>
{{cite news
| title = DG Vanzara sings about Haren Pandya murder, says it was political conspiracy: CBI
| url = http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-21/india/42271814_1_sadiq-jamal-encounter-case-tulsiram-prajapati
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130924000959/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-21/india/42271814_1_sadiq-jamal-encounter-case-tulsiram-prajapati
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = September 24, 2013
| date = September 21, 2013
| work = [[The Times of India]]
|access-date=2013-09-30}}</ref> who was at one time a minister under [[Narendra Modi]]. Pandya was shot dead while out on a morning walk in March 2003, a year after his fallout with Modi. In 2003, it was Vanzara who had originally investigated the Pandya murder.<ref>
{{cite news
| title = The Emperor Uncrowned : The rise of Narendra Modi
| author = Vinod K Jose
| publisher = Caravan magazine
| url = http://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/emperor-uncrowned
| date = March 2012
|access-date=2013-09-30}}</ref>
Similar claims have also been made by the [[Daily News and Analysis|DNA]] newspaper,<ref name=dna>
{{cite news
| title = Was it Tulsiram Prajapati who killed Haren Pandya?
| publisher = DNA (newspaper)
| date = August 30, 2011
| url = http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1581624/report-was-it-tulsiram-prajapati-who-killed-haren-pandya
|access-date=2013-09-30}}</ref> which has suggested that Sheikh was eliminated because of his links to the political murder of Pandya.

==CBI reconstruction of the case==
The CBI and a team of forensic science experts reconstructed the alleged fake encounter of Tulsi Prajapati by Gujarat police in 2006 at Chhapri village in the district on July 8, 2011. The team headed by Rajendra Singh of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), and T D Dogra of Forensic Medicine Department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), began the reconstruction early morning. The forensic experts and CBI were assisted by state [[Criminal Investigation Department (India)|CID]] officials. CID was investigating the case before the Supreme Court transferred it to the central agency. The experts obtained crucial data such as the distance between the police vehicle and the car in which Prajapati was travelling, location of Prajapati’s body after the encounter as per the CID’s FIR, how police officers fired at Prajapati and the distance from which they fired.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/latest-news/cbi-reconstructs-tulsi-prajapati-fake-encounter/|title=CBI reconstructs Tulsi Prajapati fake encounter|date=9 July 2011|publisher=The Indian Express|access-date=21 April 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prajapati, Tulsiram}}
[[Category:December 2006 events in Asia]]
[[Category:2006 crimes in India]]

Tulsiram Prajapati killing - Revision history

imported>GreenC bot: Rescued 2 archive links; reformat 2 links. Wayback Medic 2.5