Mumbai: A special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday acquitted all 22 accused in the sensational Sohrabuddin Shaikh-Tulsiram Prajapati alleged fake encounter case citing lack of proof. 

The CBI court said, "Government machinery and prosecution put in a lot of effort, 210 witnesses were brought but satisfactory evidence didn't come and witnesses turned hostile. No fault of the prosecutor if witnesses don't speak."

However, judge SJ Sharma also said that though the court feels sorry for the families of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati as three lives were lost, it has to give verdict solely by evidence. 

Details of the case 

Gangster Sohrabuddin and his wife were killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat Police in 2005. His aide Prajapati was later killed in another alleged fake encounter by the police.

Before CBI took over the case in 2010, it was being probed by Gujarat CID. To ensure a fair trial, the case was later shifted to Mumbai from Gujarat. 

The prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of which 92 turned hostile.

Even as the trial has wound down to a close, two prosecution witnesses applied to the court Wednesday that they be re-examined.

One of them, Azam Khan, an aide of Shaikh, said that a former police inspector  Abdul Rehman, who is also an accused in the case, threatened him and his wife.