by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ahmedabad : Hearing in a discharge petition filed by former Gujarat IPS official D.G. Vanzara, who is a key accused in the sensational 2004 Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case, concluded at a Special CBI Court here on Saturday.
In June 2004, Mumbai-based 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan and three others — her friend Javed alias Pranesh, along with two Pakistani nationals Zeeshan Johar and Amzad Ali Rana — were gunned down by a team of Vanzara’s men in an alleged gun battle in Ahmedabad.
It was claimed that Ishrat and her friends were terrorists who had come to Gujarat with an intention to assassinate then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Vanzara, who is alleged to have masterminded the alleged encounter by a joint team of Gujarat Police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, is currently out on bail.
In his discharge plea, Vanzara had stated that the chargesheet filed against him was “concocted” and that there was no prosecutable evidence against him. He also said that the testimony of witnesses could not be believed as some of them were accused in the case earlier.
He had also claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was once seeking to arrest then Chief Minister Modi and Minister of State for Home Amit Shah in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, though “fortunately” it did not happen.
Vanzara in his submission had also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was secretly interrogated by the investigating officer in the case when he was the Chief Minister, a claim denied by the CBI.
The CBI has opposed the petition by Vanzara with Special Public Prosecutor R.C. Kodekar, appearing for the CBI, stating that “if there had been no adequate material evidence against him, Vanzara would not have been chargesheeted”.
Kodekar also pointed to statements of several witnesses who had confirmed that the crime was indeed committed by the accused.
Other than Vanzara, the CBI had chargesheeted six senior policemen, including former in-charge DGP P.P. Pandey, IPS G.L. Singhal, retired SP N.K. Amin, retired DySP Tarun Barot and four IB officers, including former Special Director Rajinder Kumar.
Amin too has filed a discharge petition in the same court and the court completed hearing his plea last month.
Amin and Vanzara have also sought parity with P.P. Pandey, who was accused in the case but his discharge petition was allowed by the court.
The court on Saturday reserved its judgment till July 17, when it is also expected to pronounce its order in the discharge petitions of Amin and Vanzara.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ahmedabad : A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court hearing the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case on Wednesday concluded hearing in the discharge plea by former top cop of Gujarat Police N.K. Amin.
The special court had started hearing the Amin’s discharge plea last Saturday.
Amin, presenting his final submission before the court of special judge J.K. Pandya, said that the testimonies of the witnesses produced by the CBI in the case were “not reliable”, as some of them were earlier made accused in the case.
Maintaining that he did not fire from his gun, Amin said that Satish Verma, the Gujarat cadre IPS, who assisted the CBI in the investigation, had tampered with the evidence.
Amin was appearing in the court as party in person.
The CBI, has opposed the discharge pleas by Amin as well as from former top cop of Gujarat and retired DIG D.G. Vanzara.
Opposing the Amin’s plea, the CBI stated that it had ample proof to corroborate his presence at the spot of encounter.
The CBI charge-sheet states that Amin had fired five rounds from his 9mm pistol. It also stated in the court that there were witnesses who had seen Amin at the encounter site and that they also had forensic evidence that he had fired from his gun.
But Amin, now a practising lawyer after his retirement, claimed in his plea that he was not a part of the team involved in the shooting and that his involvement was not supported by with any forensic evidence.
On Wednesday, Amin once again equated his discharge plea with that of former in-charge DGP P.P. Pandey and sought parity with him, who was accused in the case but had his discharge petition allowed by the same court.
In June 2004, Mumbai-based 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan and three others — her friend Javed alias Pranesh, along with two Pakistani nationals Zeeshan Johar and Amzad Ali Rana — were gunned down by a team of Vanzara’s men in an encounter in Ahmedabad in 2004.
It was claimed that Ishrat and her friends were terrorists who were in the state with an intent and plot to kill then Chief Minister and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The court is expected to announce its decision on the discharge plea next month.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ishrat Jahan (file photo)
Alappuzha (Kerala) : A petitioner in the June 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake shootout case was killed in a road accident here on Friday. Kerala Police have started a probe.
M.R. Gopinathan Pillai died when the car he was travelling in collided with a lorry.
“We are leaving nothing to chance and all aspects of the accident are being thoroughly probed,” said an officer, who did not wish to be identified.
Pillai was the father of Javed Ghulam Shaikh, alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, who was one of the three others killed by the Gujarat Police along with Ishrat Jahan on the outskirts of Ahmadabad in June 2004.
“It’s too early at this moment to come to any sort of conclusion on the accident. An FIR has been registered and the probe has begun,” the officer said.
Speaking to IANS, a police officer attached to the Pattanakad police station said: “Pillai was on his way to a hospital for a check-up when his car met with the accident.”
The 78-year-old Pillai, a retired teacher had heaved a sigh of relief after the Special Investigation Team submitted to the Gujarat High Court in 2011 that his son was killed in a fake shootout.
Pillai then reacted that he was a much relieved man because no one would call him the father of a terrorist — as the Gujarat Police had dubbed his son.
Shaikh had converted to Islam to marry a Muslim woman.
The Gujarat Police had then alleged that Ishrat and the three others were Leshkar-e-Taiba activists on a mission to kill then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ahmedabad : A special CBI court here on Wednesday discharged former Gujarat DGP incharge P.P. Pandey, a key accused in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan shootout case.
Allowing Pandey’s discharge application, court presiding officer J.K. Pandya said that the investigating agency had not been able to provide evidence against the police officer relating to kidnapping and murder of Ishrat Jahan and three others on the city outskirts in 2004.
With this development, Pandey has become the first accused to be discharged in the case.
The court ruled that evidence given by witnesses in the case was contradictory and that they gave different versions to different investigating agencies.
The court pointed out that according to Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), in case of a government servant, the Investigating Officer was required to take permission from the state to prosecute him and file the charge sheet. This was not the case with Pandey, it added.
The Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch officials had gunned down 19-year-old college student Ishrat Jahan hailing from Mumbra in Maharashtra, her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh, Zeeshan Johar and Amzad Rana in an alleged shootout on June 15, 2004, on Ahmedabad’s outskirts, claiming they had come to carry out terror activities in the state, including an attack on then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Pandey was head of the Crime Branch at that time.
The CBI, that investigated the case, had in its first charge sheet filed in 2013, accused seven police and Indian Police Service officials, including Pandey, ADG D.G. Vanzara and G.L. Singhal, of kidnapping, murder and conspiracy.
The CBI had also named four Intelligence Bureau officials, including Special Director Rajinder Kumar and officer M.S. Sinha, in its supplementary charge sheet, which still awaits the Centre’s sanction.
Pandey spent 19 months in jail till February 2015. He was later reinstated as Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) and later as DGP in-charge of the state. He, however, was forced to resign as head of the state police in April 2017 after his promotion was challenged in the Supreme Court by former top cop Julio F. Ribeiro.
Fighting the case, Pandey claimed that none of the 105 witnesses examined by the court had named him and that he had no direct or indirect involvement in the case.
“At times, it appears that there is a delay in delivery of justice in our country but eventually the truth does come out. This is good for Gujarat Police… it also shows that the courts are neutral and can take firm decisions,” Pandey told reporters after the judgment.
Shamshad Pathan, the lawyer representing the next of kin of those killed in the shootout, said: “Definitely this is a disappointing verdict. The victims’ side will surely challenge the decision in a higher court.”
He said: “He (Pandey) has the main role in the conspiracy and the court has not taken (into consideration) evidences before it on the basis of which this verdict can be challenged.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ishrat Jahan (file photo)
Ahmedabad : Karnataka High Court’s most senior judge Jayant Patel, who had ordered a CBI investigation in the controversial fake Ishrat Jahan encounter case in Gujarat, on Monday resigned reportedly for not being elevated as Chief Justice.
Patel, the senior-most puisne judge of the Karnataka High Court after the chief justice, sent his resignation letter to Chief Justice SK Mukherjee.
It is believed Justice Patel, who was Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court before being posted to Bengaluru, resigned in a huff over his transfer to the Allahabad High Court, where he would be the third most senior judge.
In fact, the Gujarat High Court Bar Association had even raised the non-appointment of Justice Patel with the Collegium and called it shocking. This was when he was transferred as a judge in the Karnataka High Court after being an Acting Chief Justice.
Justice Patel had not only ordered a CBI investigation in the controversial fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan but had also monitored the probe, which included looking into the role of officials of Intelligence Bureau.
He was sworn in as a judge of Karnataka High Court on February 13 last year, while he was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on August 13, 2015.
—IANS
