CBI wanted to arrest Modi in Ishrat case: Ex-DIG Vanzara
Ahmedabad, June 5: Gujarat's former Deputy Inspector General of Police D.G. Vanzara on Tuesday told a special court that the CBI wanted to arrest then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and then Minister of State for Home Amit Shah in the Ishrat Jahan fake shootout case.
Arguing for Vanzara in a discharge petition filed in the CBI court presided over by J.K. Pandya, his counsel V.D. Gajjar claimed that though the Central Bureau of Investigation intended to arrest Modi and Shah, "fortunately" it did not happen.
While Modi is now the Prime Minister of India, Shah is the President of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Vanzara, who is out on bail in the case, had earlier submitted in the same court that Modi was secretly questioned by the case Investigating Officer when he was the Chief Minister.
The CBI had given a clean chit in 2014 to Shah on grounds of "insufficient evidence".
In June 2004, Mumbai-based 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan, her friend Javed alias Pranesh, and Pakistani nationals Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were gunned down by a team of Vanzara's men in a gun battle on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
Ishrat Jahan and her friends were dubbed terrorists out on a mission to assassinate the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However, subsequent CBI investigation concluded that the shootout was fake.
Vanzara's lawyer on Tuesday claimed that the charge-sheet against his client in the case was "concocted" and that there was no prosecutable evidence against the former police officer.
He also said that the testimony of witnesses could not be believed as some were earlier among the accused in the case.
The CBI opposed the discharge plea of Vanzara. Another co-accused and senior police official N.K. Amin too has filed a discharge plea in the same court and hearing on it concluded last month.
In his final submission in the court, Amin, a retired SP and now a practicing lawyer, claimed that Satish Verma, the Gujarat cadre IPS official who assisted the CBI in the investigations, had "tampered with the evidence" and maintained that he had "never fired from his gun".
Both former police officers had also sought parity with former in-charge DGP P.P. Pandey, a co-accused who was discharged by the court.
The court posted the matter for next hearing on June 15.
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Cong govt ordering probe into Covid-19 handling during BJP regime has malafide intent: Yediyurappa
Shivamogga (Karnataka), Nov 16: Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka has ordered a probe into the Covid-19 management with malafide intention since the BJP was in power at that time.
The Karnataka government has decided to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate alleged irregularities in Covid-19 management based on the recommendation of Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission report, which favoured the prosecution of Yediyurappa and the then Health Minister B Sriramulu.
“There is no need for us to worry. They (Congress government) are doing it with malafide intention. We will face it legally,” the BJP strongman said.
When medicines were not available and survival was a question before people during the pandemic, the BJP government made a sincere effort to save lives, he said.
“Now Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is repeatedly trying to project it as a scam but we need not have to worry about it. We did our job sincerely and people have appreciated it,” the 81-year-old BJP stalwart said. He dubbed the probe an attempt to divert public attention from MUDA case.
In the Mysuru Urban Development Authority site allotment case, the Lokayukta police has registered a case against Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B M and his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy in connection with the allotment of 14 sites in Parvathi’s name in Mysuru city. Besides Lokayukta police, the Enforcement Directorate is also investigating the case.
Yediyurappa said "Siddaramaiah cannot escape from MUDA case" as there were many complaints against him and people would get to know the reality about Siddaramaiah’s involvement once he is summoned for questioning by the investigating agency.
