Jaipur, May 31 (IANS) Rajasthan legislator and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajendra Singh Rathore walked out of jail here Thursday after a court discharged him in criminal Dara Singh’s staged shootout killing in 2006, a lawyer said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Rathore April 5. The case has so far seen the arrest of 11 policemen.
“The court of district sessions judge found no evidence proving criminal conspiracy on the part of Rathore in killing Dara Singh. He was discharged even before the trial against him was to commence,” Rathore’s lawyer Hemant Nahata told IANS.
He added that the court in its 61-page order said that only call details between an arrested police official and Rathore did not suggest that the legislator had directed police to kill Dara Singh.
A huge crowd of Rathore’s supporters gathered in front of the Jaipur Central Jail ahead of the politician’s release.
Before heading to the BJP’s state headquarters here, Rathore told mediapersons that it was a conspiracy against him by the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government.
“I had a firm belief in the judiciary. After getting party’s permission, I will go to every village telling people about how I was made a victim of a political conspiracy,” said Rathore.
The staged shootout by police’s special operations group took place on the outskirts of Jaipur Oct 23, 2006.
The probe agency, in its charge sheet filed in a court, accused Rathore of kidnapping and criminal conspiracy to kill Dara Singh.
The CBI alleged that Dara Singh’s staged shootout was a fallout of rivalry between two groups of liquor mafias in the state’s Shekhawati region. The agency alleged that one of the groups had patronage of Rathore.
Those arrested in the case include two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers – Additional Director General of Police A.K. Jain and Inspector General of Police A. Ponnuchami.
Accused policemen Rajesh Chaudhary, Zulfikar and Arvind are on the run.
