Ishrat's family demands stringent punishment for guilty cops

The State Government's claims were challenged in court by Ishrat Jahan's mother Shameema Kausar.

The Gujarat police had claimed that Ishrat along with three other male colleagues were members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. They were on the mission to gun down Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Ishrat''s family, however, strongly objected to these claims and kept fighting in the court to reopen the investigations and an impartial probe by the CBI into the killings.

"From 2004 we are trying to prove that it was a fake encounter. My sister was not a terrorist. But we are happy now that the court itself proves that it was a fake encounter. Those who carried out this heinous act should be punished severely," said Nasharat Jahan, younger sister of Ishrat Jahan.

“I thank the Indian Judicial System. We were confident that we will win it. It’s a conspiracy my. My sister (Isharat) was innocent. They loved this country as anyone. Though no power can now return my sister but media helped. We have faith in judiciary. We demand for the stringent punishment for the culprits,” she added.

“It was a fight of a mother. It’s a battle for justice and there is no need to give communal angle to this fight. It’s a fight for humanity. All the lawyers, who fought the case, are Hindus. So it’s a victory of secularism also,” said a relative of Ishrat Jahan.

According to the Tamang Report that was submitted, four persons Ishrat, Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani--killed in an encounter on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004, were not linked with the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashker-e-Toiba, as claimed by the police.

Gujarat Police had claimed that the four were LeT terrorists and were on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The report says the police officers and their subordinates shot down the victims in "cold blood using their service revolver".

It further said the encounter was "planned" and executed "mercilessly" by shooting the victims from "close range". Even the autopsy report said the death of the four were due to bullet injuries, it added.

The report alleged that police officers including the then city police commissioner K. R. Kaushik, then JCP (Crime Branch) P. P. Pande, suspended DIG D G Vanzara, then ACP G L Singhal, and ACP N K Amin had planned this encounter for their selfish motives.

The report said the motive for senior police officers was to get promotion, to secure their positions, to falsely show their work as the best, to impress the chief minister and receive his praise.

The report further refused to subscribe to the theory of the police by offering counter-points.

According to the report, not a single cop was hurt in spite of police''s claim that the alleged ''terrorists'' fired multiple rounds at them. Not even a single tree or vehicle in the vicinity of the encounter was hit by a bullet. The alleged terrorists'' pistol found at the spot was rusted and looked like it had not been used for a while.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ishrats-family-demands-stringent-punishment-for-guilty-cops/514485/