IPS officer accused in Sohrabuddin encounter case reinstated

The Gujarat government has reinstated an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is an accused in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case and given him a plum posting as Superintendent, DGP Vigilance Squad, according to a Gujarat state home department notification issued yesterday midnight.
Abhay Chudasama who spent four years in prison, is the first Sohrabuddin Sheikh case accused IPS official to be reinstated by the Gujarat state government. Earlier, the Gujarat state government had reinstated IPS officer G L Singhal who is an accused in Ishrat Jahan encounter case.
As per a notification issued by the state home department yesterday midnight, Chudasama, who was granted bail on April 28, 2014, has been reinstated as Superintendent of Police (SP) of Vigilance Squad in the DGP's office, Gandhinagar.

Presently called the State Monitoring Cell, the squad works directly under the Gujarat state Director General of Police (DGP). However, popularly, the cell is still referred to as "DG Vigilance Squad".
The post of a Superintendent of Police in the Monitoring Cell is considered as a powerful position, since the cell has powers to conduct raids anywhere in Gujarat state to curb crimes.
Chudasama, who is a 1999 batch officer, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2010 for his alleged involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Allegedly, Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi were abducted and killed in 2005, near Gandhinagar in a fake encounter.

After spending four years in jail, Chudasama was granted bail on April 28 by the Bombay High Court.
The case related to the fake encounter of Sheikh and the murder of his wife Kausar Bi was transferred to Mumbai by the Supreme Court.