Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashish Pandya, who was accused and later acquitted in the 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati encounter case, has applied for voluntary retirement. He sent his application to the Gujarat Home Department on Thursday.
Pandya, who is posted as DSP in the SC/ST cell in Bhuj, West Kutch, was one of the accused in the Tulsiram Prajapati encounter case that took place on December 28, 2006, near Chapri Jakatnaka of Banaskantha district at about 5 am. He was later acquitted in the case in December 2018.
In his letter to the Gujarat Home Department, Pandya said that he had joined the police force in May 2001 and hence he completed 20 years in service this May. He also stressed that he had taken the decision due to personal reasons and that he was under no pressure from any quarters. He requested the home department to accept his voluntary retirement request from October 31.
Gujarat CID (crime) had arrested Pandya, then a Police Sub Inspector in the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Banaskantha district, in 2010. The case was later transferred to CBI as both Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases were clubbed together. Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed in an encounter a year ago on the Narol- Vishala Highway on November 25, 2005.
Pandya was released on bail in December 2014 by the Bombay High Court along with 22 other accused. His suspension was subsequently revoked in 2015, and he was promoted to the rank of Police Inspector and posted in Kutch’s Rapar police station.
