Ishrat Jehan encounter fake, HC orders filing a new FIR

The Gujarat High court has asked the Gujarat Police to file a fresh FIR under section 302 of the CrPC in the Ishrat Jehan encounter case, and that the case be handed over to a central investigation agency.

Ishrat Jehan and three others were killed in an encounter by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on 15 June 2004. The Crime Branch had then claimed the four were LeT members and were on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The High Court had constituted a  Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the circumstances which led to the encounter following complaints from the relatives of the deceased.

The SIT which submitted its report on Friday, 18 November 2011, has concluded that the encounter was staged. The report claims that the deceased were not killed on the day of the said encounter.

The report names 21 Gujarat Police officers involved in the encounter, including four IPS officers. The court has ordered that a case be filed under section 302 of the CrPC.

The court, however, did not divulge precise details of the SIT report saying that disclosing the details would prejudice investigations in the case. The arguments in the case will continue over the issue of who will file an FIR and investigate the case.

Ishrat, a 19-year-old college girl, along with Javed Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in a shootout by Ahmedabad Crime Branch on 15 June 2004.

Ishrat’s mother and Javed’s father had sought a thorough probe by the CBI. After hearing of their pleas, the HC bench had formed the SIT and entrusted it with the task to investigate the genuineness of the encounter.

SIT is yet to get certain conclusive findings after it had completed the third reconstruction of the crime scene. Forensic details from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) are yet to be analysed fully.

Reacting to the report Former DGP of Gujarat Police, RB Sreekumar, slammed the Gujarat government and said that truth has prevailed and reiterated that 2002 riots and police brutalities that followed were orchestrated by the state government.

Agencies

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