New India inquiry into Ishrat Jahan killing in Gujarat

[fd24]

A court in India's Gujarat state has ordered federal police to take over the case of female student Ishrat Jahan and three others killed by police in 2004.

Gujarat police said they were part of a Pakistan-based militant group and were plotting to kill the chief minister.

But a court appointed panel found they were killed in a staged clash, commonly known as "fake encounter", a charge the police deny.

The court said Gujarat police could not be trusted in the case.

Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed concerns about so-called "fake encounters", in which security forces carry out killings that are later passed off as having occurred during violent clashes.
'Exceptional'

In issuing its order on Thursday for the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] take over the case, the Gujarat high court judge said that "the Ishrat Jehan case is exceptional and has national ramifications".

Last month, a three-member Special Investigation Team, headed by senior police officer Rajiv Ranjan Verma, submitted its report to the high court.

The report said that evidence suggested the four were killed before the date of the alleged clash on 15 June 2004.

The court told the investigating agency to lodge a fresh case and charge the policemen involved in the killings.

Nearly two dozen policemen, including several senior officials, were reported to be involved.

Gujarat police said those killed were members of the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and were involved in a plot to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2009, another judicial probe into the incident blamed the police for staging the killings.

The inquiry named a senior Gujarat police officer, among others, in connection with the "cold-blooded murder" of the student and three others.

The probe said that police had "kidnapped" the student and three others in the city of Mumbai.

They were then taken to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, and killed in "police custody", the probe said.

Ishrat Jahan's mother, Shamima Kausar, has always maintained her daughter's innocence.

Later, police in Mumbai said the student had no criminal background and had never been involved in any terrorist activity, as claimed by the police in Gujarat.

BBC News - New India inquiry into Ishrat Jahan killing in Gujarat

 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

If the court says, it must be re-investigated and the guilty should be punished.

But I doubt they will be.

and to all forthcoming Modi bashers, I'd like to say only one thing.

Somethings in our countries are necessary evils.

Modi has proven to be the best evil India has.

 

[RazPaK]

If the court says, it must be re-investigated and the guilty should be punished.

But I doubt they will be.

and to all forthcoming Modi bashers, I'd like to say only one thing.

Somethings in our countries are necessary evils.

The militant groups in Pakistan must be a necessary evil as well.

You can't just throw ethics out the window. Call a spade a spade, and a crime a crime. It will be better for Indian society. If Indians feel so angry about corruption then they should tackle it head on, and not be lied to.

 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

The militant groups in Pakistan must be a necessary evil as well.

I was more thinking of the blasphemy laws, my dear.

You can't just throw ethics out the window. Call a spade a spade, and a crime a crime. It will be better for Indian society. If Indians feel so angry about corruption then they should tackle it head on, and not be lied to.

I did not throw ethics out of the window.

But there is a time for everything.

Right now India needs Modi's ecnomic policies and moreover, Modi himself has proven to be largely secular over the years. Had it not been so, Modi would not have won the civil body elections in Muslim dominated areas.

There's a reason why he's so popular in Guajrat even among the Muslims. Think about it.

 

[RazPaK]

In Pakistani's eyes the man is a criminal, but If Indian Muslims support him, who are we to say anything.

 

[MINK]

A court in India's Gujarat state has ordered federal police to take over the case of female student Ishrat Jahan and three others killed by police in 2004.

Gujarat police said they were part of a Pakistan-based militant group and were plotting to kill the chief minister.

But a court appointed panel found they were killed in a staged clash, commonly known as "fake encounter", a charge the police deny.

The court said Gujarat police could not be trusted in the case.

Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed concerns about so-called "fake encounters", in which security forces carry out killings that are later passed off as having occurred during violent clashes.
'Exceptional'

In issuing its order on Thursday for the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] take over the case, the Gujarat high court judge said that "the Ishrat Jehan case is exceptional and has national ramifications".

Last month, a three-member Special Investigation Team, headed by senior police officer Rajiv Ranjan Verma, submitted its report to the high court.

The report said that evidence suggested the four were killed before the date of the alleged clash on 15 June 2004.

The court told the investigating agency to lodge a fresh case and charge the policemen involved in the killings.

Nearly two dozen policemen, including several senior officials, were reported to be involved.

Gujarat police said those killed were members of the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and were involved in a plot to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2009, another judicial probe into the incident blamed the police for staging the killings.

The inquiry named a senior Gujarat police officer, among others, in connection with the "cold-blooded murder" of the student and three others.

The probe said that police had "kidnapped" the student and three others in the city of Mumbai.

They were then taken to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, and killed in "police custody", the probe said.

Ishrat Jahan's mother, Shamima Kausar, has always maintained her daughter's innocence.

Later, police in Mumbai said the student had no criminal background and had never been involved in any terrorist activity, as claimed by the police in Gujarat.

BBC News - New India inquiry into Ishrat Jahan killing in Gujarat

So our Pakistani friends haven't stopped visiting BBC yet.

 

[surya kiran]

Leaked NIA document indicates cover up in Ishrat Jahan case - Firstpost

New documents obtained by Firstpost show the union government has suppressed testimony that slain Mumbai resident Ishrat Jehan Raza may have been an Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist. In an 13 October, 2010, note, the National Investigations Agency said Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Coleman Headley had told them Ishrat Jehan had been part of a “botched” operation run by the terrorist group. Later, though, mention of this revelation was removed from a 117 page record of the 26/11 surveillance agent’s interrogation released to media.

Highly placed government sources have told Firstpost that the note was found on file on July 5, when it was called for by Union Home Affairs Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. It was also shown to members of the Congress Core Group, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The government is yet to respond to calls from both the Bharatiya Janata Party, and top Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, to place what it knows about Ishrat Jehan’s background on record.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/more-evidence-against-ishrat-surfaces-what-is-the-upa-hiding-958087.html

The Ishrat Jahan case is getting murkier and murkier with increasing evidence that the UPA government is hiding the truth about who she really was.

Although the courts have categorically said that they are only concerned with whether or not Ishrat was the victim of an extra judicial killing and not whether or not she was a terrorist, the details coming to light are raising several important questions on the conduct of the government in this matter that cannot continue to be completely ignored.

Firstpost exclusively reported last month, that 26/11 mastermind David Headley had mentioned Ishrat Jahan while being interrogated in the United States:

Lakhvi told Headley he would be working with Muzammil Bhat, the full-bearded 6’4” giant in the room, who counted among the Lashkar’s most able operatives. Bhat’s achievements, Federal Bureau of Investigations interrogators recorded Headley as being told, included multiple strikes in Kashmir and recruiting a “female suicide bomber named Ishrat Jahaan

File photo of Ishrat Jahan: CNN-IBN

File photo of Ishrat Jahan: CNN-IBN

And now a new report in the Hindustan Times offers more damning evidence against the UPA government, as it clearly mentions that the MHA had not only received an NIA note on Headley’s comments on Ishrat, but had also forwarded it to the highest levels of government within hours.

HT reports,

The matter seems to be more complicated as home ministry has found statement of Headley in its file pertaining to the encounter. After a senior Congress leader and BJP demanded clarification from the home ministry on whether Headley had mentioned Ishrat Jahan module in interrogation by the NIA on July 5, the home ministry found the NIA note (UO NO 04/2009/NIA/16/104 dated October 13, 2010) in its Ishrat Jahan file confirming the same.

It is understood that the NIA note was shown to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde the same day, who in turn informed the highest levels of government within hours.

This raises several questions on the conduct of the UPA government and its decision to remain silent on the evidence against Ishrat even as it has been making statements saying that those guilty of carrying out the alleged fake encounter should be punished:

1. why the NIA has chosen to be silent about this whole issue for so long, and evade a direct answer to the Gujarat High Court
2. why P Chidambaram, as Home Minister, excluded any mention of this from the David Headley interrogation shared with the media
3. why, since since Digvijaya Singh and the BJP have both asked the government to come clean on this, Sushil Kumar Shinde has chosen not to respond and clear the air

The possibility that the truth about Ishrat Jahan is being masked to facilitate political gain is getting harder and harder to dismiss, and even more disturbing is the fact that this looks like it is being done at the cost of the country’s efforts to fight terrorism.

As Firstpost noted, Like all truths, the whole truth about Ishrat Jahan’s life and death likely won’t please anyone. It’s critical, though, to the credibility of India’s criminal justice system, and the future of our struggle against terrorism. Nothing anyone has done so far, though, suggests anyone really wants to tell the story—and nothing the CBI is doing gives reason to think that’s going to change.

 

[kena]

It is scorching irony that all attempts to malign Narendra Modi boomerang back. In the Ishrat Jahan case, the common citizen is now even more fully convinced that the girl was a terrorist who has been served her just desserts and the Congress is coming across as an anti national protector of terrorist's interests. It is as if Lord Shiva is himself managing Modi's campaign.