Amid the IB-CBI face-off over the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, it turns out that MHA is not convinced with the evidence collected by the investigative agency against Special Director IB Rajendra Kumar.
A senior MHA official said that the Ministry had gone through the evidence collected by CBI and was convinced there was nothing sufficient to either arrest or prosecute Kumar. Regardless of MHA’s reservations, the CBI has been insisting on pressing charges against Kumar before he retires next month. On the question of prior sanction, the agency has maintained it would not be required since staging an encounter cannot be termed as official duty.
“The Ministry is aware of the evidence collected by the CBI against Kumar and we are of the view that it doesn’t have enough to either arrest or prosecute Kumar,” the official said adding “There is nothing in possession of the CBI which suggests that Kumar was involved in the shoot-out or in even in planning the shoot-out,” the official added.
Ishrat and three others — all suspected to lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) terrorists - were shot dead by the Gujarat Police on a tip-off that the four had entered the State to eliminate Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The CBI investigating the case on the directive of the Gujarat High Court charged Kumar for conspiracy to murder. The CBI claimed to have material to suggest that the shootout was staged and Kumar was one of the key players.
With the name of a senior IB official getting linked to a cold-blooded fake encounter death, the IB had conveyed to the Centre that the image of the agency had been sullied. Two weeks ago, Union Home Secretary RK Singh held a joint meeting with CBI chief Ranjit Sinha and IB Director Asif Ibrahim in order to resolve the stand-off.