Gujarat Crime Branch fired 70 rounds at Ishrat & others: CBI

New Delhi, July 4: Gujarat Crime Branch officials had fired 70 rounds using their automatic and semi-automatic weapons at Ishrat Jahan and three others during the alleged fake encounter nine years ago.

In an attempt to give the encounter credibility, Crime Branch Commando Mohan Kalasawa allegedly fired from AK-56 automatic assault rifle, which was said to be provided by Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau -- an unit of Intelligence Bureau, at the official Gypsy of police, CBI sources said, adding these details have been included in their chargesheet.

They said they have given in chargesheet how this AK-56 was procured by the Crime Branch and later planted on Amjad Ali Rana who was killed along with Ishrat and two others on June 15, 2004.

Two officers of the team which executed the encounter -- IK Chauhan and Commando Mohan Nanji--had refused to fire upon four victims -- Ishrat, Javed Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Jishan Johar -- following which Mohan Kalasawa and Tarun Barot snatched their weapons and shot the victims dead, CBI sources said.

They said the investigations revealed that maximum rounds were allegedly fired up by Kalasawa who first fired 32 rounds from his AK-47 automtic rifle and later snatched the gun of Nanji and fired another 10 rounds at Ishrat and others.

According to CBI investigations NK Amin, JG Parmar, Tarun Barot, Mohan Kalasawa and Anaju Jiman Choudhary were allegedly involved in the shooting in which Ishrat and three others were killed.

The sources said they have given a break-up of shots fired upon by the Gujarat Crime Branch officials in the charge sheet which show that Amin fired five rounds from his 9 mm pistol, Parmar fired four rounds from his revolver, Barot emptied six bullets of his revolver and also fired three rounds from Chouhan's revolver, Kalasawa fired 32 rounds of his AK 47 and 10 rounds from Nanji's AK 47 while Choudhary fired 10 rounds from his stengun.

The agency said its probe has revealed that the firing took place in two successive stages--in the first round Barot and Kalaswa exhausted their ammunitions and stopped firing and in the second round fired from the weapons of Chauhan and Nanji, the sources said.

The agency has mentioned in its charge sheet that the encounter was a joint operation of Gujarat Police and SIB, Ahmedabad in which then Joint Director SIB Rajinder Kumar, now Special Director Intelligence Bureau, played a crucial role.

The sources said although their first charge sheet has mentioned about "overt acts" committed by the accused Gujarat Police officers, they would file a supplementary charge sheet in next six weeks as investigation in the role of Kumar and officials who were posted in SIB -- MK Sinha, Rajeev Wankhede T Mittal and others -- is still going on.

In its charge sheet, CBI has not named Kumar as accused but says Ishrat and three others who were killed the encounter were interrogated by him while they were in illegal detention.

CBI sources said they have mentioned in their charge sheet that Kumar was alleged to be actively involved in the conspiracy of kidnapping Ishrat, Javed Sheikh, Jishan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana who were later gunned down by Gujarat Crime Branch officials.

The sources said the then ACP Crime Branch GL Singhal and Kumar intercepted Jishan Johar in the last week of April, 2004 with the help of their sources and kept him in illegal confinement at Gota Housing, Ahmedabad.

He was was put under "audio-tap" by SIB officers Rajeev Wankhede, MK Sinha and T Mittal and the surveillance was maintained by Gujarat Police officers CJ Goswami PSI, PG Waghela PSI, Head constable Hanubha Narsinh Dodiya and Constable Zahir Ahmed.

PTI