Ishrat case: Local police rebuff crime branch's claim
AHMEDABAD: Statements of local police posted at different police stations in the city in 2004 might nail the crime branch which killed Ishrat Jahan and three others branding them as Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists out to kill chief minister Narendra Modi.
The probe by the Gujarat high court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) examined nearly 50 police personnel of various ranks who were posted in police stations situated between Narol and Kotarpur. They were asked specific questions about deployment of crime branch personnel for 'nakabandi' (checkposts) on June 15, 2004 when Ishrat and three others were killed in a shoot-out. The crime branch had said earlier that they had received an intelligence tip off about LeT fidayeen targeting the chief minister. The crime branch's version said that the terrorists entered in the city from Narol and were intercepted near Kotarpur waterworks. Officials involved in the operation claimed that 26 policemen were deployed for nakabandi after they got intelligence inputs that the terrorists were approaching the city.
The agency questioned 50-odd policemen on night duty that day including some assistant and deputy commissioners, but none of them confirmed seeing crime branch officials at checkposts to identify and stop the terrorists.
The crime branch FIR in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case says that joint commissioner of crime branch, PP Pandey, received secret information that LeT operatives had entered Gujarat to kill the chief minister. He alerted the crime branch, which took position at various spots to stop the militants. Finally an encounter took place when they reached Kotarpur area.
The first investigation carried out by crime branch officer Parixita Gurjar concluded that the claims were true. The Pota court, however rejected her proposal to close the case. The high court set up an SIT, but in the meantime an inquiry report by judicial officer SP Tamang dubbed it a fake encounter and disrupted the progress of the probe due to various litigations. Last year, the high court again constituted an SIT, and one of three officers of the SIT, Satish Verma told the court that more that sufficient evidence has been gathered to book the cops involved in the shoot-out.
The probe by the Gujarat high court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) examined nearly 50 police personnel of various ranks who were posted in police stations situated between Narol and Kotarpur. They were asked specific questions about deployment of crime branch personnel for 'nakabandi' (checkposts) on June 15, 2004 when Ishrat and three others were killed in a shoot-out. The crime branch had said earlier that they had received an intelligence tip off about LeT fidayeen targeting the chief minister. The crime branch's version said that the terrorists entered in the city from Narol and were intercepted near Kotarpur waterworks. Officials involved in the operation claimed that 26 policemen were deployed for nakabandi after they got intelligence inputs that the terrorists were approaching the city.
The agency questioned 50-odd policemen on night duty that day including some assistant and deputy commissioners, but none of them confirmed seeing crime branch officials at checkposts to identify and stop the terrorists.
The crime branch FIR in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case says that joint commissioner of crime branch, PP Pandey, received secret information that LeT operatives had entered Gujarat to kill the chief minister. He alerted the crime branch, which took position at various spots to stop the militants. Finally an encounter took place when they reached Kotarpur area.
The first investigation carried out by crime branch officer Parixita Gurjar concluded that the claims were true. The Pota court, however rejected her proposal to close the case. The high court set up an SIT, but in the meantime an inquiry report by judicial officer SP Tamang dubbed it a fake encounter and disrupted the progress of the probe due to various litigations. Last year, the high court again constituted an SIT, and one of three officers of the SIT, Satish Verma told the court that more that sufficient evidence has been gathered to book the cops involved in the shoot-out.
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