All 22 accused in the alleged fake encounter killings of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsi Prajapati were acquitted Friday by a special CBI court because of insufficient evidence, even as it expressed sorrow over the loss of "three lives."

Special CBI Judge S J Sharma said in his ruling the system demands that the court go solely by evidence, and observed that the prosecution had failed to establish a cogent case to suggest that there was any conspiracy to kill the three people, or that the accused persons had any role in it.