Ahmedabad:

A special CBI court today rejected the discharge pleas of former IPS D G Vanzara and police officer N K Amin in Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

The court of designated judge J K Pandya had completed the hearing on the pleas last month had deferred its verdict on August 4.

CBI and Ishrat’s mother Shamina Kaushar had opposed the discharge pleas.

The court rejected the pleas concluding that Amin and Vanzara were directly involved in the encounter. Their role was different from that of former top cop P P Pandey who was earlier discharged in the case in February this year by the same court and with whom the duo had compared them during course of argument.

The two had claimed that the encounter was a genuine one and the case lodged by CBI against them was politically motivated to frame them. Vanzara’s counsel had argued that the encounter was genuine and on June15, 2004, based on IB inputs borders of Ahmedabad city were sealed by police. Even the police officials on leave on that day were re-called to join the duty. The then ACP had also visited the spot. Videography was also done and the FSL team was also involved. In an Indigo car four terrorists (Ishrat Jahan, the 19 year old Mumbai girl, her boy-friend Pranyesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh and two Pakistani nationals), who were later gunned down, were present. It was chased by police from Narol circle to Naroda.

Vanzara and other accused police officers in the case maintained that the four were LeT operatives who had arrived Ahmedabad with an intention to assassinate the then CM Narendra Modi.

DeshGujarat