CBI files chargesheet, says Ishrat Jahan encounter was 'fake'

The CBI has filed its first chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan 'fake encounter' case on Wednesday in Gujarat high court. Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed by Gujarat police nine years ago. In its chargesheet, the agency accused cops DG Vanzara, Tarun Barot, JR Parmar, NK Amin accused of murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The CBI also said that Ishrat Jahan was not a terrorist, but the three others killed along with her in a fake encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad nine years ago had alleged terror links, the CBI has concluded in its chargesheet filed before the court.

The CBI has said the three — Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar — were allegedly planning attacks in Ahmedabad. It added Pranesh was using Ishrat, a Mumbai college student, as a shield to escape detection. The four were killed in cold blood "The three men were in touch with a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba handler, Muzammil. The three were identified as terror suspects by the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau during telephone interceptions. They were planning to unleash terror attacks in Ahmedabad, but Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was not their target," said a CBI official.

The Gujarat police crime branch had claimed the four had come to the state as part of the LeT's plan to kill Modi. CBI investigations have revealed that Ishrat and Pranesh were on their second visit to Gujarat when they were caught at Vasad in Vadodara. The CBI chargesheet includes statements of nine police officers, who were part of the staged encounter. The statements, recorded under section 164 of CrPC in a Mumbai court, prove sequence of events in the case.

A crime branch official has revealed in his statement that weapons planted on the four — an AK 47 and two 9 mm pistols — after the encounter were sourced from the IB office in Gujarat. CBI also has evidence to prove the involvement of IB joint director Rajinder Kumar in this case. A crime branch official has revealed that Kumar, along with Gujarat IPS officers DG Vanzara and PP Pandey, came to Arham Farm outside the city to question Rana.

At Kotarpur waterworks, where the encounter was staged, crime branch officers had fought with each other when a police inspector and a commando refused to fire at the four. Two of their colleagues then snatched their weapons and fired at them.