Ishrat Jahan’s mother opposes discharge plea by Vanzara

Ishrat Jahan's mother has opposed the discharge applications filed by former Gujarat police officer, D G Vanzara. She will file an application before the special CBI court which is hearing the plea filed by the former cop in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

Meanwhile Vanzara told the court that 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'.