The CBI on Wednesday claimed that the alleged lashkar-e-Tayyeba operative Ishrat Jahan and three of her associates were killed by the Gujarat Police in a fake encounter in 2004 and chargesheeted seven policemen for murder and criminal conspiracy and violations under various sections of the Arms Act.
Gujarat Police officials chargesheeted in the case include absconding Additional DGP PP Pandey, suspended DIG DG Vanzara, Gl Singhal, Tarun Barot, NK Amin, JG Parmar and Anaju Chaudhary. The eighth accused, Mohan Kalashwa, has since died and has been included in a separate column in the chargesheet.
The chargehseet, filed before chief judicial magistrate HS Khutwad in Ahmedabad, deals with the chronology of the incidents leading to the alleged abduction and alleged fake encounter on June 14/15, 2004.
The report claimed that Zeeshan Ali, a man of suspicious character, was allegedly abducted in April 2004 and kept in a farmhouse by the seven Gujarat Police officials booked in the case.
Another leT operative Amjad Ali was intercepted in May 2004 and kept in a separate farmhouse. Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh were intercepted by the Gujarat Police and Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) on June 11/12 in 2004 and kept in a third farmhouse in Ahmedabad, alleges the chargesheet.
Thereafter, a meeting was held on June 12/13 among the then SIB chief, Rajendra Kumar, Pandey and Vanzara at the Vanzara’s office where the alleged plot to eliminate the four was hatched. While there was consensus between the three officials to eliminate the three lashkar operatives, there was some difference of opinion on what to do with Ishrat, the chargesheet says.The chargesheet is silent on whether Ishrat or the three others killed in the alleged fake encounter had any terror link.
The final report also said that the SIB provided arms to the accused Gujarat Police officials who subsequently planted them after the staged encounter. The blue Indica car in which Ishrat, Javed and Zeeshan were brought to the encounter site was driven by a Gujarat Policeman, says the chargesheet. The car was owned by Javed. Amzad was brought to the encounter site in a separate vehicle.
The document also mentioned that the accused police officials even drafted the FIR to be filed after the encounter. The accused persons have been charged under various sections of the IPC, including Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 368 (wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapped or abducted person,
346 (wrongful confinement in secret), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 203 ( Giving false information respecting an offence committed), 204 ( destruction of (document or electronic record) to prevent its production as evidence), 217 (public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture). The accused persons have also been charged under relevant sections of the Arms Act.
CBI officials said further probe in the case is continuing and a supplementary chargesheet detailing the intent and evidence backing the criminal conspiracy is likely to be filed within a couple of months. The second chargesheet is expected to nail Kumar along with three other SIB officials MK Sinha, P Mittal and Rajiv Wankhede.
CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said, “The chargesheet is based strictly on evidence including CDRs and witness records. There is no element of politics in filing of the chargesheet.”
A CBI statement said, “The accused police officials with the help of officers of other agency (IB) obtained weapons for the purported encounter. Thereafter, five accused officials of the Gujarat Police opened fire from their official weapons on Javed, Ishrat Jahan, Jishan Johar and Amjad Ali, which resulted in their death on the spot.”
The CBI probe into the incident has been confined to establish whether the encounter was fake and the specific role of the officials involved in it. When asked about the intent of the officials accused in the case in killing the four persons, officials said officials are clear about their role but further evidence is being gathered and the same will be brought out in the supplementary chargesheet.
Officials said the CBI has a strong case as 22 witnesses have recorded their statements before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Such statements are admissible as evidence in a court of law. The chargehseet is also critical about the role of SIB in abduction and plotting of the conspiracy to kill the four persons.
The chargesheet rebuts the Gujarat Police claim that Ishrat and the three men shot dead were driving towards Ahmedabad when they were intercepted and killed in an exchange of fire on June 15, 2004.
The chargesheet seeks to establish a Crime Branch-IB nexus and states that Vanzara and Singhal had gone to the IB office on June 14, 2004 and collected a bag of weapons which was subsequently planted on the four killed in the staged encounter a day later.
The final report has made it clear that Kumar’s role in the case is suspect and calls for further investigation. The Gujarat Police had claimed that it was the IB alert that a leT module was out to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi that triggered the “encounter.”
The CBI has found no charges against nine policemen whose statements were recorded under section 169 of the CrPC. The nine cops include Bharat Patel, Chetan Goswami, Devendra Goswami, Ramesh Patel, Kishor Vaghela, Mohan Mina, Haresh Agravat, Kalu Desai and Mohan Kalasva.