'Guj police killed Ishrat in cold blood for fame'

Ahmedabad, Sep 8: In yet another major blow to the Gujarat Government, the 2004 police encounter in which Ishrat Raza Jahan and three others were killed was declared fake and a local magistrate ruled that the police 'staged' the encounter and killed them in cold blood.

Conducting a judicial probe into the encounter under section 176 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), metropolitan magistrate, SP Tamang held that the fake encounter was organised by policemen from the crime branch for 'name, fame and promotion and praise' from the chief minister.

Now, Ishrat's lawyer and another victim, Javed Shaikh's family are demanding that all police officers who were members of the encounter team be arrested immediately.

The magistrate's report names 21 policemen including retired DGP Kaushik, as party to the encounter.

Just like in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter, where his wife Kauserbi was also killed because she was witness to the murder, the police kidnapped Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh and Ishrat from Mumbai and kept them in illegal custody and later killed them.

OneIndia News