Mumbai, August 05: The theory that Ishrat Jahan Sheikh, Javed Gulamali Sheikh, Jishan Johar and Amjadali Akbarali Rana were not killed in an ‘encounter’ but in cold blood has gained strength in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Reliable sources say the four were actually not travelling in an Indica as claimed by the police. The sources also question where Ishrat and Javed were after they left Mumbra on June 11, four days before they were killed by the Gujarat cops. Specially when the Intelligence Bureau claims that they were under surveillance (with Ishrat being watched for the last six months). Why doesn’t the police say where the four terrorists were in those four days before they travelled into Gujarat? And why weren’t they arrested then? Or, were they arrested on June 11 from Mumbra itself and taken to Ahmedabad, as sources claim, and later killed in an ‘encounter’ on June 15. Sources also claim that Johar and Rana were arrested about a fortnight before the killing and an fir was lodged against them. The fir is now destroyed.
When Tehelka questioned Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), Ahmedabad, DG Vanjara, his defence was on expected lines: “Don’t ask stupid questions. Either you accept the police version given to you or you keep carrying out the investigation. It is your imagination.” He added after a significant pause: “Have you seen the fir?” Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah reacted differently. “Please listen to me. It is not like that at all,” he said. On being told about the fir, he said, “My job is not to see the fir. I will immediately call up Commissioner PP Pandey and ask him to help you.” Pandey, however, did not come on the phone even once.
Innumerable questions remain (See box). The police claims that 53 rounds were fired and that they fired only 16 rounds. That means the alleged terrorists fired 37 rounds. And yet, not a single cop was hurt, nor did any bullet hit the police vehicle. So, either Lashkar-e-Toiba employed really bad hitmen for its job or the police are lying. Another anomaly is the fact that the LeT is known to use AK 56 rifles. The four terrorists had AK 47 rifles.
dcp Amar Jadhav of Thane Crime Branch still maintains that the police has not found any criminal record of Ishrat. “It doesn’t mean she couldn’t be involved,” he told Tehelka. When asked if Ishrat and Javed were picked up from Mumbra, he paused. “We have found no evidence to that effect so far,” was all he would say.
Another question screams for attention. Why was the Anti Terrorism Squad (ats), specially created to handle terrorism and which comes directly under the Intelligence Bureau, not asked to deal with the entire operation? Why did the Crime Branch, whose cops are political appointees, handle the encounter? Senior sources in the ats have told Tehelka — on the strict condition of anonymity — that the squad refused to carry out the operation.
So, what is the truth? Nineteen-year-old Ishrat came from a poor family. She had no father and the responsibility of supporting the family. It would not have been difficult to psyche her into getting involved in some operation — an operation she wouldn’t have known in its entirety, nor its ramifications.
On the other hand, from where did Ishrat get money to make std calls of Rs 400 to 500 a day? Also, why did her mother Shamima not insist on a second autopsy on Ishrat’s body? Why doesn’t she want to know the truth about her daughter?
Javed is another of the dramatis personae steeped in mystery. Though his neighbours at his Pune residence (Kalas Housing Society) hardly saw him, a shopkeeper claims that he often saw Javed ride his bike in the evenings on Tiger Road. The road leads to a wing office of the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Veena Badami, Javed’s neighbour, claims Javed’s wife Sajida was desperate to send her son Siddique to the R&D school.
In the details that Tehelka received from the Pune rto, Javed obtained his driving licence in the name of Praneshkumar M Pillai and gave the address as P 201/E, mew Qrts, Barma Shell, Lohegaon, Pune — an address he never stayed at. It is claimed that a certain SD Sawant has been staying there for over a decade. Javed would have known the address well, as his father had been with the organisation earlier.
The incessant media spotlight has kept the controversy alive. As a senior Gujarat cop put it, “Modi had not expected such a backlash at all.” And till the questions remain unanswered, the backlash promises to get stronger.
—SOurce: Tahelka