Constable accused of firing at Ishrat Jahan reinstated: report

The Gujarat government has reinstated the constable Anaju Chaudhary who was accused of firing at Ishrat Jahan and three others in the Gujarat encounter case, according to a report in the Indian Express. The report adds that Chaudhary was “accused by the CBI of firing 10 rounds from a sten gun at Ishrat and three others” and his suspension was “revoked on 2 July.” He is the third accused in the case to be reinstated. On 29 May, it was reported that suspended IPS officer GL Singhal was to be reinstated. Singhal was also accused in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case whose recording of phone conversations had brought to light the snooping scandal allegedly involving Narendra Modi aide Amit Shah. “Yes, he (GL Singhal) has been reinstated. Last night, sanction was given for his reinstatement,” SK Nanda, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), said. State Director General of Police PC Thakur said Singhal had been posted as Group Commandant of the State Reserve Police at Gandhinagar. [caption id=“attachment_1409909” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ishrat Jahan in this file photo. Ibnlive[/caption] While investigating the Ishrat case, the CBI had raided Singhal’s house and seized a pen drive containing 267 recordings. One of the recordings was claimed to contain conversations between law officers of the state and ministers allegedly making plans to derail the Ishrat case probe, while some others purportedly had conversations between former Minister of State for Home Amit Shah and Singhal making plans to snoop on a woman architect at the behest of “Saheb”. Following his arrest and suspension, Singhal had resigned from service, alleging the state government had failed to protect him. However, his resignation was not accepted on technical grounds. Chaudhary is the third accused to be reinstated. “Inspector Bharat A Patel, who was arrested but never charge-sheeted, was the first to return to work,” adds the Indian Express report. With inputs from PTI