MUMBAI: Two more witnesses were declared hostile in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter case. One of the witnesses, an alleged gangster, is also a wanted criminal in Rajasthan .

The witness told the court that in 2010, a CBI officer had threatened him to give a statement against a Gujarat IPS officer (discharged as an accused) in the case. He submitted that the officer said the criminal cases against him would be dropped if he gave such a statement, and that in the absence of a favourable statement, he would get into further trouble.

The witness said he did not know anything about Sohrabuddin’s encounter and only learnt of it from the newspapers.

He submitted that he did not know the IPS officer and hence did not give any such statement. The witness claimed that the CBI never recorded his statement but took his signature on some papers. The other witness to depose was a CRPF head constable. So far, over 85 witnesses have been declared hostile in the case.

