How are CBI charges against Kataria witch hunting, asks Congress

Hitting out at the BJP, the Congress Wednesday said the opposition party should explain how it could term as a "conspiracy" the CBI charges against its Rajasthan leader Gulab Chand Kataria in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh shootout case.

Addressing a briefing here, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed wondered how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was terming the CBI charges against Kataria - who was Rajasthan home minister when Sohrabuddin was killed in 2005 - as not correct, while calling the charges against former railways minister P.K. Bansal as "right".

Bansal had to quit as railways minister last week following allegations that his nephew took a bribe of Rs.90 lakh to fix a post in the plum railway board for an official.

"This is puzzling, that the BJP thinks it is right when the Congress takes action on its own minister for corruption, but when its own people are concerned they say it is witch hunting by the CBI. They should explain," said Ahmed.

"The CBI has made a certain claim against P.K. Bansal, and the BJP is saying what the CBI says is true, but when it concerns Kataria, then they say something else. I am at a loss to understand this," he added.

The CBI Tuesday filed murder and conspiracy charges against Kataria, Andhra Pradesh IPS officer N. Balasubramanyam and two others in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh shootout case of 2005.

Kataria is the second prominent BJP leader to be charged in the case after Amit Shah, a former minister of state for home in Gujarat.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said Wednesday that the party stands behind Kataria and it will "expose the attempts" of the CBI and the Congress both "legally and politically".

Arun Jaitley, BJP leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the case was part of a "well-planned conspiracy" and "there is not a shred of truthful evidence against him".