Supreme Court suspends trial in Sohrabuddin killing

New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday halted the trial of Gujarat's suspended police officials for their alleged role in the controversial killing of Soharabuddin Sheikh, his wife and a friend in an staged gun battle in November 2005.

While ordering an Ahmedabad sessions court to suspend the trial, a bench of Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Justice Aftab Alam also directed the Gujarat High court to confiscate the documents relating to the trial from the city court till further orders.

The bench suspended the trial following a day-long argument by Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, who accused Gujarat Inspector General of Police Geetha Johri of shielding various other state police officers suspected of involvement in the killings.

Sheikh was killed in what the police termed a shootout, and maintained he was a terrorist. It was later found that he was only a petty criminal. His brother has accused the police of killing him in a staged shootout after pulling Sohrabuddin his wife and a friend out of a bus.