The CBI has sent a letters rogatory (judicial request) to Pakistan to establish the identity of Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar who were killed along with leT operative Ishrat Jahan in an alleged fake encounter in Ahmedabad in 2004.
The move comes after the agency failed in establishing the identity following a detailed search in Jammu & Kashmir. The duo is alleged to be Pakistani terrorists who had infiltrated into India with terror designs. The search by the CBI investigators met a dead end in the State as the agency could not gather any tangible evidence on their identity, sources said.
In its bid to get any clue about the identity of Rana and Johar, CBI had also published an advertisement in Urdu newspapers of Jammu & Kashmir in July with their photographs. The agency had promised a cash reward for anyone giving information about them. Gujarat Police had claimed in its FIR that Johar and Rana were actually Pakistani citizens who had come to India to eliminate top politicians of the State.
The agency has been able to gather detailed information about Ishrat and Javed Sheikh by recording the statements of their relatives and acquaintances. The CBI, however, has not been able to establish the identity of Johar and Rana or their motive behind their presence in Gujarat. The CBI is likely to file a supplementary charge sheet in the case once it is able to unravel the conspiracy which led to the encounter. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on July 3.