However, the home secretary GK Pillai clarified that the home ministry is not backtracking from the affidavit. He also made it clear that nobody from the Central agencies was involved in the "so-called encounter".
In the midst of a controversy over the fake encounter of Ishrat Jehan and three others, the Centre today said it stood by its affidavit in court that the four were suspects but said that "terrorists cannot be killed in cold blood."
"Whatever we have given in the affidavit is a fact available with the home ministry...we are not backtracking from the affidavit," home secretary GK Pillai told reporters here. However, he went on to add that "terrorists cannot be killed in cold blood", indicating that due process of law had to be followed.
Pillai made it clear that nobody from the Central agencies was involved in the "so-called encounter". "Home ministry has nothing to do with the encounter. We have given facts based on the Intelligence reports. On that basis, we filed the affidavit in the court," he said.
Pillai said the Home Ministry was not a party to decide on the bonafides of the encounter and it was for the court to find out. A fresh controversy broke out over the alleged 2004 encounter of Ishrat Jehan and three others when a judicial report claimed that the killings were fake.
Gujarat government had rejected the report insisting that those killed were LeT operatives and dragged the Centre into the row claiming even it knew of their alleged terror links.
The Gujarat police had claimed that the four persons—Ishrat, Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani were LeT operatives planning to carry out terror strikes in the state.
They also claimed that the four persons were on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
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