Ahmedabad: Calling himself a victim of terrorism, former special director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Rajinder Kumar, charge-sheeted in Ishrat Jahan encounter case, today sought action against CBI’s ex-director Ranjit Sinha for “conspiring” against officials of the intelligence agency and police officers fighting terrorism.
Kumar also said that “a politician from Gujarat, who was a very powerful person between 2004 and 2014,” influenced CBI investigation and spread “misinformation” against him and “compromised India’s security.”
“There is a category of victims of terrorism in India which is not found anywhere else in the world, and that is of police and security forces who fall victim to false propaganda. After getting caught in the crossfire of political blame game, they are accused of killing terrorists and then jailed,” he said.
“On Jun 15, 2004, Gujarat police killed four Lashkar terrorists (Ishrat Jahan case). IB had given tip-off of the plan. This gave an opportunity to this prominent politician to frame Gujarat politicians who were emerging at national level,” Kumar said, apparently referring to BJP chief Amit Shah.
Kumar, who is one of the four IB officials who were charge-sheeted besides seven Gujarat IPS officers in the alleged fake encounter case, was speaking as a guest at the launch of an NGO ‘Justice for Victims of Terrorism’, which has former IPS officer D G Vanzara, ex-DGP of the state S S Khandwawala and former Maharashtra DGP K P Raghuvanshi as its office-bearers.
“A campaign was run that Gujarat police are killing innocents, and me, Rajinder Kumar is giving false intelligence inputs to police. This was a misinformation spread against me,” Kumar said.
Accusing Sinha of working at the behest of the Gujarat politician, Kumar said, “He is involved in a conspiracy against security agency and officials fighting terrorism. Leave alone false charge sheet filed by him, a group including him compromised India’s security.”
“This politician is also involved in coal scam, but did CBI investigate about this leader? You know that SC had set up an inquiry committee which found that Sinha met all accused of Coalgate and 2G,” Kumar alleged.
“It is sad that Ranjit Sinha and other conspirators are still moving scot free two-and-a-half-years after the new government came to power. I would appeal to the government that he should be sent where officials fighting terrorists were sent,” Kumar said.
Sinha was the CBI director when the agency investigated the roles of Rajinder Kumar and IPS officers from Gujarat in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
Ishrat (19), Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on 15 June, 2004. Gujarat police had then claimed they had links to terror group LeT and were plotting to kill
Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister, to avenge the post-Godhra riots.
He said the killing of gangster Sohrabuddin, also in an alleged fake encounter, was used as an opportunity by this politician to target leaders from state emerging at the national level. Amit Shah was one of the accused in the case but a Mumbai court gave him a clean chit.
PTI