The revelations of Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley, deposing before special court via video link throws many questions on his veracity especially the recent one that Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an encounter in 2004 by Gujarat police, was working for LeT.
It may be recalled here that the 19-year-old college girl and three others were killed in 2004 in an encounter by police in Gujarat on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.She was accused of being involved in a plot to assassinate the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi,and L K.Advani. The police had claimed that Ishrat was to assassinate Mr. Modi to avenge the 2002 communal riots.
Later on, a probe by Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate, S.P. Tamang, has ruled that the June 2004 killing was case of “fake encounter,” by Gujarat policemen including ‘encounter specialist’ D.G. Vanzara.
The Gujarat High Court had constituted a new three-member Special Investigation Team for a fresh probe into the alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan in 2004. SIT member Satish Varma had filed affidavit on 28 January, 2011 stating it was a ‘fake’ encounter and later SIT told the court on November 2011 that the encounter was staged.
Even the CBI’s first charge sheet in the encounter case stated in July 2013 that the unlawful killing was a joint operation of the Gujarat police and the Intelligence Bureau and named seven Gujarat police officials as the accused. The charge sheet called the encounter a “joint operation” by the IB and the Gujarat police, it named only Mr. Vanzara and Mr. Pandey as the accused.
The charge sheet further said that Mr Rajinder Kumar ,the Intelligence Bureau official, met Mr. Vanzara (Crime Branch DIG ) and Mr. P P Pandey (Additional Director-General of Police) at the government bungalow number 15 in Shahibaug to discuss the plan to eliminate Ishrat, Javed Shaikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar.
In view of the judgement of the investigative agencies and inconclusive proof of Ishrat Jahan motives,Headley claims ,who has turned approver,is to be doubted and even if Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist ,the methods adopted by the Gujrat Police encountering the accused had put a question mark on the entire machinery.
It must also be noted that D.G. Vanzara and over one dozen IPS officers are accused not only in the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan but more than half dozen face encounter cases?
If Ishrat was a LeT terrorist then what about Kauser Bi , the wife of Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was killed in another such fake encounter.
Infact D.G. Vanzara is a habitual killer and all the fake encounters which were committed in Gujarat had political motive.The serious question which remained to be answered as why LeT stopped their operations once the cases of fake encounters were exposed and D .G. Vanzara and his teams were arrested ?