Gujarat IPS officer G L Singhal, key accused in Ishrat Jahan case, gets promotion
Ahmedabad, Jan 1: An accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case and another who was recently discharged in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh case were among the six IPS officers promoted by the Gujarat government on Tuesday, according to a notification.
G L Singhal, one of the seven IPS officers chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Ishrat Jahan case, has been promoted to the rank of inspector general from deputy inspector general of the Commando Training Centre in Gandhinagar.
Vipul Aggarwal, who was recently discharged by the Bombay High Court in connection with the Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter case, has been promoted to the post of the joint commissioner of police (administration), Ahmedabad.
Singhal was arrested in February 2013 in connection with the Ishrat Jahan case. He was granted bail by a CBI court, following which the state government had reinstated him in May 2014 as the superintendent of police of the State Crime Records Bureau.
Ishrat, a 19-year-old girl from Mumbai, and three others were killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004. A special investigation team (SIT), constituted by the Gujarat High Court, had concluded that the encounter was fake, following which the case was transferred to the CBI.
Aggarwal was reinstated in November 2014 after being granted bail in the alleged fake-encounter killings of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife, Kausar Bi, and his aide, Tulsi Prajapati.
All the 38 accused in the case have been acquitted, including the 22 accused who were discharged last month.
As per the notification issued by the state Home Department, six Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in all were promoted.
Surat Commissioner of Police Satish Sharma has been promoted to director general of police rank and will continue to be Surat top officer, the state government notification said.
Surat Additional Commissioner of Police D N Patel has been promoted as the joint commissioner of police (JCP), Surat, while M A Chawda has been promoted as the inspector general of police, Gandhinagar range.
IPS officer J R Mothaliya, additional commissioner of police (traffic), Ahmedabad, has been made the JCP. The pay scale of another 22 IPS officers has been changed, the notification said.
A separate notification said eight Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials have also been given promotions.
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Four months on, no breakthrough in missing Bengaluru girls case; CID probe ordered
Bengaluru: The case of two students who went missing under mysterious circumstances four months ago in the jurisdiction of Vidyaranyapura Police Station has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation, as no breakthrough has been made so far.
The missing students have been identified as Taniska, a second PUC student, and Tejaswini, a first PUC student. Both went missing on January 31 after leaving their homes, carrying only their Aadhaar cards. They have not returned since, prompting their parents to file a complaint with the police.
During the initial investigation, police found CCTV footage showing the two students crossing certain junctions. There were early indications that they may have travelled towards Male Mahadeshwara Hills, but searches conducted there did not yield any results, sources said.
Police teams carried out searches in more than 100 locations across the country, including Mysuru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kerala, and Delhi. However, no trace of the students has been found. Cops said the two have not used mobile phones or ATM cards since their disappearance. They have also not contacted friends, relatives, or family members, making the case more difficult to crack.
With no progress in the investigation, the parents had urged the government to hand over the case to the CID. Following this, the government transferred the case to the CID, and a special team has now been formed to trace the missing students.
