CBI court rejects discharge pleas of former police officers DG Vanzara, NK Amin
Ishrat Jahan encounter case
NEW DELHI: A CBI special court on Tuesday rejected the discharge pleas of former police officers DG Vanzara and NK Amin who are accused in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case.
The court had last month concluded hearing arguments of the two accused retired police officers, the CBI and Ishrat's mother Shamima Kauser, who had challenged Vanzara's discharge plea.
Former Gujarat DIG Vanzara has sought discharge on the ground of parity with the former DGP of the state P P Pandey, who was discharged in the case in February this year for want of evidence against him.
In his plea, Vanzara had also claimed that the charge sheet filed by the central agency was "concocted" and there was "no prosecutable material" against him.
The former Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad chief said statements of the witnesses were "highly suspicious".
Amin, who retired as the superintendent of police, sought his discharge on the ground that the encounter was genuine and that testimonies of witnesses produced by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were not reliable.
Ishrat's mother sought to oppose Vanzara's plea and told the court that her daughter was "murdered following a conspiracy between high-ranking police officers and others holding powerful and influential positions".
She said Vanzara played a "direct and key role" in the conspiracy behind the "staged encounter".
Jahan, a 19-year-old woman from Mumbra near Mumbai, and three others -- Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar -- were killed by the police in an "encounter" on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
At that time, the police had claimed that the four had terror links and plotted to kill the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. A Special Investigation Team, set up by the Gujarat High Court, however, concluded that the encounter was "fake".
Following this, the court transferred the case, initially handled by the state police, to the CBI.
In the first charge sheet filed in 2013, the CBI named seven police officials, including IPS officers Pandey, Vanzara and G L Singhal, as accused.
All were booked for kidnapping, murder and conspiracy, among other charges.
Vanzara was also named an accused in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a suspected gangster, and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati. He was discharged by a court in Mumbai last year.
courtesy : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Agra man arrested for harassing, touching inappropriately Czech tourist visiting Taj Mahal
Agra, Apr 6 (PTI): A man was arrested for allegedly harassing and touching inappropriately a tourist from the Czech Republic visiting the Taj Mahal, police said on Sunday.
The alleged incident occurred on April 3 and the arrest was made after a thorough investigation, they said.
In a written complaint at the Tourist police station, the woman alleged that she was "touched inappropriately and harassed" while walking along the Shamshan Ghat Road around 1 pm, they added.
The police registered a case and began a probe, deploying multiple teams to nab the accused.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Taj Security) Syed Areeb Ahmed said, "A case was registered on the complaint of the foreign woman. Several teams were deployed to search for the accused. (Footage from) several CCTV cameras covering the area was scanned. After investigation, the accused Karan Rathore was arrested on Sunday."
The woman has identified Rathore as the accused and he has been taken into custody, the officer said.
