Extortion motive behind Sohrabuddin's killing: CBI

Extortion of money was the main motive behind the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi in November 2005 by a Gujarat Police team, the CBI on Wednesday claimed before a court in Ahmedabad while seeking further remand of arrested DCP Abhay Chudasama in connection with the case.

Judge VB Barot hearing the case, however, rejected CBI's demand for extension of the IPS officer's custody and sent him to judicial remand.

Chudasama is the fourth IPS officer to be arrested in the fake encounter case. He was produced in court after his CBI custody ended on Wednesday.

While requesting for extension of his custody, CBI lawyer LD Tiwari said Chudasama was non-cooperative during his interrogation in the last six days of his remand.

He told the court the investigation has revealed that extortion of money was the main motive behind the alleged killing of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi.

While seeking a seven-day extension of his remand period, Tiwari apprised the court about the searches conducted by the CBI at various places.

Tiwari claimed that during the search at Chudasama's office they have recovered ammunitions, memory cards, CDs, floppies, mobile phones and a laptop computer which were sent for analysis.