PM Modi Was Interrogated In Ishrat Jahan Encounter Case, Claims Accused DG Vanzara
New Delhi: Former IPS officer D.G. Vanzara, one of the key accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, has filed a discharge application before the special CBI court.
His application comes two weeks after a CBI court in Ahmedabad discharged former Gujarat DGP P.P. Pandey in the case. Vanzara has sought discharge on the grounds of parity with Pandey, Indian Express reported.
Vanzara has claimed in his petition that the fake encounter case is “politically motivated… with a view to topple the democratically-elected (Gujarat) government, (and the) entire plot appears to have been deployed by the then central government (led by the UPA)…”, according to the newspaper.
He has also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “interrogated” in relation to the case. However, a senior police officer who is involved in the investigation told Indian Express that this is a “complete lie”.
Ishrat Jahan, a teenaged woman from Mumbra, was killed in June 2004 by the Gujarat police in an ‘encounter’ along with three other men. A magisterial enquiry, SIT probe and CBI investigation subsequently all concluded that this was a fake encounter and that the police claim of having fired on her in ‘self-defence’ was a lie. In July 2013, almost a decade after the fake encounter, a chargesheet was filed against seven Gujarat police officials including Pandey and Vanzara, and (in a supplementary chargesheet in February 2014) four IB officials for the unlawful killings, abduction, criminal conspiracy etc.
Pandey was the first accused to be discharged in the case. Both the CBI and Ishrat Jahan’s mother Shamima Kauser had opposed his discharge. Two of the four IB officers accused in the fake encounter case – Rajeev Wankhede and Tushar Mittal – have also asked to be discharged, challenging the special CBI court order which took cognisance of a supplementary chargesheet and issued summons for their appearance.
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Ramdev criticises US, Israel over Iran war; video viral
New Delhi: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has sharply criticised the United States and Israel over their conflict with Iran, in a video from a television interview that has gone viral on social media.
Speaking on a show aired by ABP News, Ramdev was asked whether India should support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was reported to have been killed on the first day of the war on February 28.
Responding to the question, Ramdev said, “You can kill a person, but you cannot kill his ideas, his philosophy, his mindset, his spirit, or his valour and heroism.”
He went on to express support for Iran, saying he may not know much about the country but believes its people cannot be subdued. Referring to the Shia Muslim community, he said no one could make them “bow down” or defeat them, adding that a significant section of Iran’s population strongly identifies with Khamenei’s ideology.
When asked about Netanyahu, Ramdev criticised both him and US President Donald Trump, saying they are “both cut from the same cloth.” He added, “I am not calling anyone a thief; I am simply citing a proverb it implies that they are both of the same ilk, and I consider them both to be war criminals. I consider them criminals against humanity; I consider them criminals against nature and the environment.”
He further said that the United States and Israel have “erected a Himalaya-sized mountain of political mistrust” and claimed that both countries would have to face the consequences for decades. “In this conflict, neither can America and Israel emerge victorious, nor can Iran be defeated,” he said.
Ramdev’s remarks come at a time when India’s position on the conflict has drawn attention. The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has maintained what it describes as “strategic autonomy” in foreign policy.
