Court orders security for five witnesses of Jethwa murder case

Six days after sentencing former BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki to life term in the 2010 murder of transparency activist Amit Jethwa, a CBI court here Wednesday ordered police security for five witnesses of the case.

Special Judge K M Dave ordered Gujarat Police to provide security to witnesses as per their demand.

The court sentenced Solanki, his nephew Shiva and five others to life imprisonment on July 11 for killing Jethwa.

As many as 105 out of 196 witnesses had turned hostile in the case, after which the Gujarat High Court had ordered its retrial in 2017.

The five prosecution witnesses had approached the court through the CBI seeking security.

The court also asked the Gujarat director general of police and the CBI to periodically review the threat perception against the witnesses.

Of the five witnesses, three were already under police security which was extended by Wednesday's order. Two others were granted security for the first time.

Jethwa had exposed an ongoing mining scam in the Gir forest region, involving Solanki, by filing a PIL. He was shot dead in July 2010 outside the Gujarat High Court.