A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation told a court in Ahmedabad that it is probing the role of Intelligence Bureau officers in the Ishrat Jahan case, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said those guilty of carrying out the alleged fake encounter should be punished.
"Facts are facts. Guilty should be punished," Shinde told PTI when asked to comment on the CBI's submission to the court.
Shinde's statement bears significance as the home ministry officials have been maintaining that there was not enough evidence against Intelligence Bureau special director Rajendra Kumar and three others in the alleged fake encounter case.
The CBI had on Wednesday held that 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan was killed in a "fake" encounter in 2004 and chargesheeted seven police officers in the case, saying it was a joint operation between the Gujarat police and the subsidiary Intelligence Bureau.
The home ministry has been maintaining that the CBI does not have enough evidence to prosecute IB officer Kumar in the alleged fake encounter case and it was unlikely to give sanction to the CBI to prosecute the senior IPS officer.
However, the CBI has not sought the sanction from the home ministry, which is the cadre controlling authority of Indian Police Service officers.
