Raj HM discharged in Sohrabuddin case

A special CBI court on Thursday discharged senior BJP leader and Rajasthan's Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria and marble trader Vimal Patni from the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter killing cases, citing "insufficient" evidence. "There is no sufficient ground to proceed against the accused," special CBI judge MB Gosavi said as he discharged the two from the case. Kataria is the second top politician after BJP president Amit Shah who had been charge-sheeted in the two cases but will not stand trial after relief from the court. Shah, who was Minister of State for Home when the alleged staged encounters took place, was discharged on December 30. According to CBI charge sheet, gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh wanted to spread his extortion racket in Rajasthan and had demanded Rs 24 crore as protection money from Patni who then approached Kataria for help.