Twitter
Advertisement

CBI opposes IPS officer DG Vanzara's bail plea in Ishrat Jahan case

CBI, which investigated the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter killing case, on Tuesday opposed the bail petition of IPS officer D G Vanzara who is one of the prime accused.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

CBI, which investigated the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter killing case, on Tuesday opposed the bail petition of IPS officer D G Vanzara who is one of the prime accused.

Prosecutor LD Tiwari argued before the special CBI judge KR Upadhyaya that bail cannot be granted only on the ground that the accused has been behind the bars for long and the Supreme Court had said in a similar case that grant of bail in such a serious and grave offence would be "an open challenge to the civil society".

Vanzara's petition mentions that he is in jail for over seven years. His defence is that he was only following the instructions of his superior officials. His name was not in the original FIR but CBI vindictively chargesheeted him, he says. Tiwari, however, said there was nothing wrong in chargesheeting him as his role came to light later in the probe.

The court on Tuesday also heard the bail petitions of co-accused, former Additional Director General of Police PP Pandey. Pandey's lawyer, ND Nanawati, said that CBI made one of the accused an approver so that he could get bail. "This was modus operandi in the case followed by the CBI of making an accused, the then PSI Bharat Patel, a witness. They compel the accused to become a witness. It was CBI's modus operandi to let him get the default bail. This is unfair practise," he said.

Mumbra-based college girl Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat police on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004. According to CBI, it was a fake encounter while police claimed they were terrorists. The next hearing would be on January 16.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement