A special CBI court in Ahmedabad on Wednesday discharged police officers G L Singhal, Tarun Barot and Anaju Chaudhary in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
Ishrat, a resident of Mumbra near Mumbai, and three others, were killed in an alleged staged encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
CBI investigations point out that DG Vanzara, the then Deputy Inspector General of Gujarat Police, Border Range, received a go ahead two days prior to the encounter. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Gujarat high court on Tuesday allowed CBI's plea for shifting out IPS officer Satish Verma from the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case probe as it directed the agency conclude its investigation and file its charge sheet by July 4.
In a significant claim, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Thursday said that Ishrat Jahan -- who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2004 in Gujarat --was actually a suicide bomber of Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror outfit.
The Congress leader said he made the changes to improve the quality of the language as is any lawyer's wont in the second affidavit.
With the supplementary chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case finalised, the Central Bureau of Investigation has sought the opinion of the law ministry on whether sanction is needed to prosecute Intelligence Bureau officers in the conspiracy in which Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's aide Amit Shah may not be named.
Remarks by Congress and NCP (SP) leaders in Maharashtra suggesting the term 'Sanatani terrorist' have sparked a controversy, drawing strong criticism from the BJP, which accuses them of 'Hindu hatred' and 'appeasement politics'.
In a blow to the Narendra Modi government, the Gujarat high court-appointed Special Investigation Team on Monday concluded that the controversial police encounter with college girl Ishrat Jehan and three others was fake as they were killed prior to the incident. Following the finding by SIT, the high court will pass a final order on Wednesday whether to file a fresh first investigation report to include the murder charge.
The BJP has accused the Congress party of fabricating the theory of 'Hindu terror' to undermine Narendra Modi and appease Muslim voters. This statement follows the acquittal of seven individuals in the Malegaon blast case. The BJP demands compensation for the acquitted and an apology from the prosecution.
While Intelligence Bureau is relying on David Headley's testimony, the CBI is seeking clarification from the NIA, which rejects the claim that Headley spoke to Ishrat Jahan. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has demanded Central Bureau of Investigation's independence to identify Intelligence Bureau officials and political masters in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, a party statement read.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa takes a fresh look at the Ishrat Jahan encounter case
"The news report published in the Indian Express (external link) today comprehensively exposes the fake controversy created by the NDA government on the two affidavits filed by the Central government in the Ishrat Jahan case," Chidambaram said in statement.
The family of Ishrat Jahan, the teenage from Mumbra near Mumbai who was killed in an encounter along with three other alleged terrorists have dismissed the news report attributed to National Intelligence Agency which claimed that Ishrat was a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative.
Noting that the law will take its own course, Veerappa Moily said the revelations in the Ishrat Jahan encounter were a "very serious matter for the country and any other foreign country, Narendra Modi would have been in some other place."
The Supreme Court asked the Gujarat High Court to consider and pass appropriate order for constituting a separate Special Investigation Team (SIT) for probing the case relating to killing of Ishrat Jahan in an encounter.
He noted that the agency has already submitted a chargesheet in the alleged fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan.
To a question, Headley further clarified that he had informed the NIA that 'this woman (Jahan) was an Indian and an LeT operative' but could not explain why this was not recorded in his statement.
Prasad, additional secretary in the home ministry, will inquire into the circumstances in which the files related to the case of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, went missing.
Congress seeks suo motu action by the Supreme Court, accusing the Modi government of creating a 'fake controversy'
The court on Wednesday said that no witnesses accused Pandey of murdering and kidnapping of the victims.
The plea sought a direction to close criminal proceedings and action taken in FIRs lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the Gujarat Police personnel and others, saying it was unconstitutional within the judicial facts and evidences of Headley.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday accused the Congress of misuse and manipulation of the CBI to target it in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, which it termed as a "political conspiracy".
A day after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court, Gujarat Indian Police Service officer P P Pandey, an accused in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, surrendered before a Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ahmedabad.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley's reported claim that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an encounter with police in Gujarat in 2004, was a suicide bomber of the terror outfit has been contested by the father of the man killed along with her.
The mother of Ishrat Jahan, the college student who was allegedly killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat police in 2004, on Tuesday demanded stringent punishment to all those involved in her daughter's killing.
A day after her daughter was absolved of the charges by an Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate, Shamima Jahan alleged that Ishrat, a student of Mumbai's Khalsa College, was eliminated as part of a "cold=blooded conspiracy" by the police. Right from the Mumbra police, who picked up Ishrat from her home, to their counterparts in Ahmedabad, who "killed her in cold blood", everyone did it for publicity, she alleged
The Gujarat High Court on Friday relieved Satyapal Singh as chief of Special Investigation Team probing the Ishrat Jahan encounter case and appointed senior Indian Police Service officer J V Ramudu as his successor.
A Special Court on Saturday remanded senior Gujarat IPS officer P P Pandey, a key accused in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, in CBI custody till August 21.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday grilled Intelligence Bureau Special Director Rajinder Kumar regarding his alleged role in the conspiracy to carry out the fake encounter in which Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed nine years ago.
In a further blow to the encounter case of Ishrat Jahan, the National Investigation Agency has clarified that convicted terrorist David Coleman Headley, who is currently lodged in an American jail, never mentioned the 19-year-old during any of the interrogations.
Father of one of the persons killed in a police encounter in 2004 along with Ishrat Jahan on Friday filed an application in the Gujarat High Court demanding that hearing on his pending plea seeking Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry in the case begin at the earliest.
The Gujarat government on Wednesday transferred Indian Police Service officers P P Pande, G L Singhal and Assistant Commissioner of Police Tarun Barot following a suggestion by the high court bench hearing the 2004 police encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others.
The political slugfest on Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case on Friday saw the Bharatiya Janata Party supporting Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's demand that the home ministry come clean on the issue of her alleged terror links as agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of investigation and the National Investigation Agency have differences over it.
Lahore-based Ghazwa Times said, 'The veil of Ishrat Jahan, a woman activist of LeT, was removed by Indian police and her body was kept with other Mujahideens (terrorists) on the ground.'
A day after the Special Investigation Team concluded that Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed in a fake encounter in Ahmedabad, her family members on Tuesday said their stand has been vindicated. "I have always said that my daughter was not at fault and this has been proved by the SIT report. Our demand for a CBI probe into the killing is still pending," Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar told a news conference.
The Special Investigating Team probing the 2004 encounter of Mumbai teenager Ishrat Jahan and three others has seized some computer hard disks and documents related to the case after raiding the Forensic Science Laboratory in Ahmedabad.
Congress party compromised national security for political purpose, said the BJP over Ishrat Jahan case.