Ishrat killed in fake encounter
CBI names 7 Gujarat cops in chargesheet
In a major setback for the Narendra Modi government, the CBI on Wednesday declared that 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan and her three associates were killed in a “fake encounter in cold blood” in a joint operation by the Gujarat police and the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau. In a preliminary chargesheet filed before an Ahmedabad court, the CBI charged seven Gujarat police officers, including some IPS officers, for offences that include murder, conspiracy and wrongful confinement.
Those chargesheeted are additional DGP P.P. Pandey, DIG D.G. Vanzara, G.L. Singhal, Tarun Barot, N.K. Amin, J.G. Parmar and Anaju Chaudhary.
The CBI sought more time from the court to investigate the role of four officers from the Intelligence Bureau in the conspiracy.
Although the CBI on Tuesday maintained silence over the credentials of Ishrat Jahan in its chargesheet filed in the fake encounter case in Ahmedabad, the Union home ministry in its affidavit filed in a court in 2009 had called her a terrorist.
Sources in the MHA said even her name was found at Lashkar-eTayyaba (LeT) website and Pakistani American terrorist David Coleman Headley had also claimed that Ishrat was recruited by the militant outfit.
The affidavit filed by an under secretary of the MHA on August 6, 2009 before the Gujarat High Court, confirmed that Ishrat, Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar as terrorists linked with LeT.
“'It came to the notice of the security agencies of the central government that Javed was in regular touch with LeT operatives particularly Muzammil to carry out terrorist actions in Gujarat,” it said.
Meanwhile, the CBI chargesheet in Ishrat Jahan encounter case sparked a fresh war of words between Congress and BJP. The Congress launching a sharp attack on Mr Modi said, “He ( Mr Modi) will also be exposed some time. Truth comes out at one point or the other. Truth speaks for itself from the rooftop. Someday, you will come to know of the real face of the Gujarat Chief Minister,” AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry said.
Reacting to the charges of the Congress, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “BJP thinks, that this chargesheet, very clearly underplays the role of LeT, underplays the role of terrorists and certainly indicts the security apparatus and demoralises them.”