New Delhi, May 11: Gujarat encounter victim Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s brother Rubabuddin has sought to bring IPS officer Rajnish Rai back into the investigating team.

The Gujarat government had removed Rai, who had arrested three senior IPS officers in the alleged fake killing of Sohrabuddin in 2005, and handed the investigation back to Geeta Johri, the inspector-general of police, CID, crime.

The move came after the Supreme Court sought a report on why Johri had been taken off the fake encounter probe, a question that Rubabuddin had raised in his petition.

In an affidavit before the Supreme Court, Rubabuddin today clarified that he had never sought Rai’s removal. Being a senior officer, Johri could be inducted back without taking away the powers of Rai, who was doing an honest job, he added.

In view of the strict action being taken by Rai against erring police officers, the state government had used the apex court order as an “alibi” to remove him at the “first opportunity”, Rubabuddin alleged.

Soon after the apex court sought the report, director-general of police P.C. Pandey had issued an oral order asking Rai to hand over all probe papers to Johri. Rubabuddin alleged that the antecedents of Pandey, who was the Ahmedabad police commissioner during the post-Godhra riots, were suspect. A petition seeking action against him was pending in the court, he added.

Stressing the need for a CBI probe, Rubabuddin said the state police are yet to establish the motive behind his brother’s murder. The Centre, too, has pressed for a CBI probe, expressing fear that the police could be biased.

Before taking a decision in the matter, the Supreme Court had sought an updated status report on the investigation into the killing of Sohrabuddin and the subsequent murder of his wife Kauser Bi, believed to be a witness to the fake encounter.

The court had taken note of the allegation that there was an ulterior motive behind taking Johri off the investigation and had asked the Narendra Modi government to submit a report “in this regard also”.