Why did CBI delay arresting Amit Shah?

New Delhi: Former Gujarat state home minister Amit Shah spent his first night in jail on Sunday. Shah is likely to move court on Monday for bail even as questions arise about the timing of his arrest.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accusing the United Progressive Alliance Government of using the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to target its political opponents. It is a charge which is bound to resonate in Parliament during the monsoon session too. There could be some merit in the opposition's accusations of the government politicising the case.

CNN-IBN learns that the CBI was ready to arrest Amit Shah as early as April 2010 itself. Sources say that the CBI was convinced about Amit Shah misusing his position as a minister in Gujarat to influence the investigation in the encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kausar Bi.

Even as investigations were going on the departmental inquiry against IG Geeta Johri's husband, Anil Johri, was diluted in October 2008. Geeta Johri was in-charge of the SIT investigating the Sohrabuddin encounter case.

The inquiry against OP Mathur was dropped in September 2008 and he was promoted to DGP rank in February 2009. Was this done due to his favourable response to Amit Shah?

Was former DGP PC Pande appointed as Chairman, Gujarat state police housing corporation post retirement for his favourable response towards Amit Shah during the enquiry?

Was an adverse noting made by PC Pande in CID ADG Rajnish Rai's ACR for 2007-08 as he was unwilling to succumb to government pressure?

Why was DG Vanzara transferred to Border Range, Kutch, just before Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in Banaskantha district, which is under Border Range?

The BJP is questioning the timing of the CBI's moves. Sources say that the reason why the CBI was waiting for the past two months is that it had not got an opinion from the legal cell. It's a view which is bound to be challenged by the BJP.

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