Ishrat Jahan encounter: 'Evidence concocted', says former cop, Vanzara

The evidence against me is concocted in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case said former Gujarat police officer, D G Vanzara. Vanzara, a former Deputy Inspector General of Ahmedabad Crime Branch, has also sought relief on the ground of parity with former in-charge DGP of Gujarat, P P Pandey, who was recently discharged from the case.

There was no prima facie evidence to prove the conspiracy allegedly hatched at his chamber, as mentioned in the charge sheet, Vanzara's plea said.

Ishrat, a 19-year-old college girl from Mumbra near Mumbai, her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amzad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an alleged encounter by Ahmedabad police on the outskirts of the city in June 2004.

The police had claimed that these four were terrorists affiliated to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, while the CBI later said it was a fake encounter.

The CBI, however, opposed the discharge pleas of former Gujarat Police officers D G Vanzara and NK Amin. In its reply before the special CBI court in Ahmedabad, the agency said it had sufficient evidence to establish the charges against the two. After taking the CBI's reply on record, judge J K Pandya adjourned the hearing to May 5.

Amin, who was working under Vanzara when the alleged fake encounter took place, has raised multiple grounds, including that the CBI didn't follow the legal procedure while making certain accused persons prosecution witnesses or 'approvers'.