Ishrat Jahan: The inconvenient story no one wants to tell

[FischerTal]

yeah she just happened to be traveling in Gujarat with 3 terrorists........

[adi B]

according to sources,no big names in the chargesheet,no name of gujarat police officers and amit shah..only an IB guy is named,mukul sinha looked like he`s constipated

[ravishingravi]

Fantastic. All parties happy at the end of this judgement.

[asterix]

Fantastic. All parties happy at the end of this judgement.

This is just the trailer... Full Picture Baaki Hain... Just wait and watch how this unfolds till the runup to the elections...

[CSK Fan]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ishrat-was-not-a-terrorist-CBI-chargesheet/articleshow/20886401.cms What is the deal between a innocent girl and 3 terrorists :hmmm:

Dunno. Terrorists contact and live among lots of innocent people

[ravishingravi]

Dunno. Terrorists contact and live among lots of innocent people

I think they also have only one meal a day. It keeps their mind and body nimble and ready for attack.

[Number]

CBI is Congress's gutter.

[Rocky Balboa]

according to sources' date='no big names in the chargesheet,no name of gujarat police officers and amit shah..only an IB guy is named,mukul sinha looked like he`s constipated[/quote'] its just the first charge sheet. Wait for the next one...

[Sachin=GOD]

Lashkar website admits: Ishrat is ours Express News Service Posted: Jul 15, 2004 at 0300 hrs IST New Delhi, July 14

The story of Mumbra girl Ishrat Jahan, shot dead in a police encounter in Ahmedabad, took a turn today with the Lashkar-e-Taiba website claiming that she was the organisation’s martyr. Ishrat was married to one of the three others in the car, said the report in www.jamatuddawa.org.Accusing Gujarat police of not showing due respect to her body, the report said, ‘‘the Lashkar activist’s veil was removed by Indian police and her body was kept on the ground with other mujahideen.’’ ‘‘Ishrat was with her husband sitting on the front seat of the car,’’ said the report on the site run by Jamat-ul-Dawa, the new name of Markaz-ad-Dawa Wal Arshad, the Lashkar’s parent organisation, which was banned by the US in 2002. Ishrat was among the two Indians — the other being Javed Sheikh from Pune— and two suspected Pakistani nationals who were gunned down with Gujarat police, claiming that they were planning to assassinate Chief minister Narendra Modi. A student of Mumbai’s Khalsa College, Ishrat’s death had sparked a major controversy with many claiming that she was innocent. However, Gujarat and Mumbai police had said there were sufficient leads to suspect her involvement in militant activities. Reacting to the website report, Additional Commissioner of Police (Gujarat) D G Vanjara, who led the encounter team, said: ‘‘It only substantiates what our investigations had revealed, not that we ever needed a confirmation from the terror outfit. We have always been confident about the authenticity of our information and the facts revealed in our investigations.’’ In Mumbai, Ishrat’s 17-year-old brother, Anwar Sheikh, said he was not aware such a website. ‘‘Anything can be posted on a website,’’ he said. ‘‘This could be the work of vested interests to malign my sister.’’ Sheikh’s view was echoed by Advocate Shakeb Khan, who has been representing Ishrat’s family since the encounter. ‘‘The information on it (website) seemed baseless,’’ he added.

http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/51066/

[FischerTal]

Ishrat Jahan case: Why CBI’s chargesheet is a cold potato For weeks now, both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been awaiting the Central Bureau of Investigations’ first chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan murder case with at least as much anxiety as the people who might end up on death row as a consequence. The political implications of the case are huge: it threatens to rock India’s intelligence services to their foundation and could lead to the indictment of high officials in both Gujarat and New Delhi. For both the BJP and the Congress, it’s almost certain to be a key national-security related election issue. Now the chargesheet is in, my first take is this: for all the sound and fury on television, it’s a bit of a cold potato. There’s none of the zingy stories which had spiced up some of the juicier reportage on the issue: no taped conversation where conspirators discussed how to save police officers being investigated for murder, and not even a hint of anyone with a white beard, whose name may or may not be Narendra Modi. Full disclosure: I haven’t read the chargesheet, since the CBI isn’t giving out copies. Like others in the media, I’m relying on information from government sources and briefings CBI officials have privately given. Lawyers for the accused haven’t had time to read the charge-sheet either, to offer a response. Read what follows bearing these quite large caveats in mind. In essence, the CBI chargesheet tells a simple story: Ishrat Jahan and her three associates were killed in cold blood by the Gujarat Police. The Intelligence Bureau, it says, led the Gujarat police to Lashkar-e-Taiba fidayeen Zeeshan Johar, presumably in the course of a covert operation. Later, the agency also held his associate, Amjad Ali Rana. Ishrat Jahan and her associate Javed Sheikh — earlier known as Pranesh Kumar Pillai — were kidnapped on 11 July. Eight police officials have been charged with kidnapping and murder — key among them fugitive additional director-general of police Prathvipal Pandey, deputy inspector-general DG Vanzara, deputy superintendents of police Girish Singhal, Tarun Barot and Narhari Amin. In addition, the CBI says Intelligence Bureau officials Rajendra Kumar, the agency’s then-station chief in Ahmedabad, and his subordinates MK Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede, participated in the kidnapping and custodial interrogation of the suspects. The weapons later claimed to have been found from the bodies of the four victims-and use to firm-up the police accusation they were terrorists-were actually sourced from the Intelligence Bureau, it says. The chargesheet doesn’t, however, explain why these men haven’t been charged with any crime-although the CBI has said it does intend to investigate them further. For that to happen, though, the CBI will have to gather Intelligence Bureau documents and interrogate top officials-among them, then-Intelligence Bureau operations chief Nehchal Sandhu, who is now deputy national security advisor and then-Intelligence Bureau chief KP Singh, now Governor. The union government had filed an affidavit in 2007 saying the encounter was legitimate, and then backed out; it’ll have to explain on what basis it arrived at that first determination. It isn’t clear if the CBI has managed to fill in some key gaps-for example, finding a pistol it says was used to kill the accused. It has, however, relied on some 22 statements from witnesses, a substantial body of evidence to compensate for the fact that forensic investigations by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory didn’t establish the shootout was faked. Perhaps as important, the CBI chargesheet doesn’t say why this massive conspiracy was constructed, choosing to elide over the question of Ishrat Jahan and the other three were terrorists or not. The core elements of this story aren’t new. In September 2009, metropolitan magistrate SP Tamang concluded much the same in a report Firstpost is putting online today. The Gujarat High Court later slammed Tamang for showing “undue haste in concluding the inquiry without taking assistance of the experts,” it did think he’d found enough to warrant an investigation by the special investigation team. That team, in turn, proved fractious, with members filing complaints against each other-but did find enough to persuade the court to order a CBI investigation. It’s impossible to say how robust these charges will eventually prove to be in court: case after case, in the past, has drowned after witnesses who said one thing later changed their mind. The CBI has a record of getting controversial cases right, but an equally long one of botching major cases. Nine years after that encounter, there’s still likely plenty of things waiting to be found out and told.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/india/ishrat-jahan-case-why-cbis-chargesheet-is-a-cold-potato-926313.html

[someone]

One great comment from the same article^^^

I have tried to make heads and tails of the entire chain of events, based on inputs from CBI, SP Tamang report and Tehelka. This is what happened: 1. Innocent Ishrat was a hardworking girl who had lost her father. How sad! She used to work as an secretary-cum-accountant. Now most such secretaries work in office, but Ishrat was special. So, her employer Javed used to take herout of town for "work". 2. One day Ishrat went with Javed on a "work-related trip" to Nashik. She didn't inform her mother in advance because her mother didn't like her going out of town with Javed. Surprisingly, she called her mother after reaching Nashik and told her that "uncle Javed" had come with some strange men. But soon, she called back and said she was fine. 3. Now, these two "strange" men happend to be bad guys. Gujarat police falsely claims that these two men were Pakistanis, but according to Magistrate SP Tamang they were innocent Indian citizens. We don't know why no Indian came forward to claim their dead bodies. But we must believe Mr. Tamang because he is secular. Anyway, these two men were not planning to kill NaMo, they were just planning chhota-mota bombing... like maybe 50-100 people dead, no big deal in a country of 1.2 billion people! 4. These two strange men were arrested by Gujarat police in Maharashtra. IB created fake inputs and Gujarat police arrested them on fake charges of anti-Modi conspiracy simply because they wanted promotions & medals. Now, don't ask me stupid questions like "Why would Gujarat police arrested someone in Maharashtra? Why can't they just pick up Gujarati Muslims in Gujarat and kill them in order to get promotions?" Just believe whatever secular CBI says. Remember, NaMo is a saffron goon whose communal policemen arrest people illegally in other states. Javed and Ishrat were witness to this illegal arrest. 5. Innocent Ishrat and Javed were frightened so they ran off to Karnataka, and then he decided to go to his hometown Pune. Now see, any sane person would have driven from Nashik to Pune. But Javed was a special secular man, so he first drove to Karnataka and then started driving towards Pune. (according to the Tehelka article, the two were arrested whie "driving through Karnataka towards his hometown Pune in Maharashtra"). 6. Around this time, Javed received a phone call from Gujarat police asking him to come to Ahmedabad, late in the night of 6 June. He became afraid that his connection with the arrested men would land him in trouble so he obeyed and drove 700 km to Gujarat in night along with Ishrat. Now see, any normal person would have at least informed their family or gone to local police station instead of driving 700 km just because they got a call from some stranger claiming to be Gujarat police. But you see, Javed was special in a secular way, so he did all this. 7. Ishrat and Javed were sedated and kept in illegal confinement for 3 days at Khodiar farms. Now, you see they were missing for their 3 days, but their families did not file any missing persons report. Why, you ask? Well, it's because they are secular families. 8. Now the big bad "white beard" and his evil associate "grey beard" asked the police to kill Ishrat and Javed. Why? I don't know, dude. But NaMo is communal so he can do things like this. So, anyway, the police killed 4 people in this fake encounter. 9. 10,000 messengers of peace attended Ishrat's funeral. Also, Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram, two secular underworld gangsters were also killed in a fake encounter by Gujarat police. How dare they kill secular people? 10. Media helped give justice to great innocent martyr victims like Sohrabuddin and Ishrat. Also, remember that these encounters should not be called "Tulsiram Prajapati encounter case" or "Pranesh Pillai encounter case". All the cases must have secular names. 440 fake encounters happened in India during 2002-07, out of which 4 happened in Gujarat. Now please don't ask "Why so much attention to Gujarat, when majority of the encounters happend in Congress-UPA states?" You see, those states are secular, but Gujarat is communal. So, we must focus only on Gujarat.

[asterix]

One great comment from the same article^^^

:hatsoff:

[ravishingravi]

One great comment from the same article^^^

:hatsoff:

[Crookbond]

Lashkar website admits: Ishrat is ours Express News Service Posted: Jul 15, 2004 at 0300 hrs IST New Delhi, July 14 http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/51066/

Posted : TNN Sep 12, 2009, 03.48am IST http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-12/ahmedabad/28102703_1_ishrat-jahan-shamima-kausar-ishrat-encounter

AHMEDABAD: The ministry of home affairs affidavit to Gujarat High Court is full of intrigue. On the one hand while it describes how Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists, among its annexures is evidence of Ishrat not being an LeT operative. The affidavit filed by an under secretary of the ministry of home affairs on August 6, 2009 to defend a plea for transfer of the case to CBI by Ishrat's mother, Shamima Kausar, has annexed the message posted on the website of Jama't-ud-Da'wah, the mouthpiece of the LeT, which denies her links with Lashkar. After the encounter on June 15, 2004, the Jama't-ud-Da'wah on July 14, 2004 was quoted in Ghazwa Times of Lahore as having said, "The veil of Ishrat Jahan, a woman activist of LeT, was removed by Indian police and her body kept with other mujahideens (terrorists) on the ground. Ishrat was with her husband on the front seat of the car." And this was effected as evidence of her links with the terror organisation after she was killed to support the Gujarat police operation. However on May 2, 2007, the Jama't-ud-Da'wah carried an apology to Ishrat's family on its website. The affidavit has annexed this apology by its spokesperson Abdulla Muntazir on the internet edition of the paper saying he was on leave when this admission was published and called it a "journalistic mistake by my staff". Apologising to her family and all Indian Muslims, he wrote, "It has now been proven that Ishrat Jahan was not a member of Lashkar-e-Toiba and she was an innocent Muslim girl who was murdered by the Modi Sarkar." What took the Lashkar three years to make the amendment is not explained. Muntazir claims the Ghazwa monitoring cell extracted news about Ishrat Jahan from Indian newspapers at the time of the encounter, and published them. "Herein lies the blunder. The source of this news item was not mentioned along with the news."

[someone]

There are so many more questions to this case. Firstly, why is it labeled Ishrat Jahan case, what about the other 3 people. Why such a intentional differentiation between one and other 3? And then what difference does out to kill Modi vs "chota bota blast" do, at the end both are of wrong. And then back to evidence like LeT, Headley, IB and even yesterday, former IB director Ajit Doval said there was impeccable evidence against Ishrat. Although if I am correct, CBI themselves have not answered to the terrorist aspect . But given its political significance, the media + politician opponents are terming it otherwise and trying to create sympathy factor for that particular religion community. On that IB issue, it cannot really stand as IB is the supreme security agency of our country. And given, J & K is still one of the biggest issues, this would thenset an extremely dangerous situation. And if IB is blamed, then PMO should get the blame and thus will the central government want that?

[someone]

And that so called apology hardly consistent and cannot be taken seriously. Check the timing and really it's easy to understand why. And even if we ignore that angle, there is actually more evidence to suggest Ishrat had connections compared to the encounter being "fake" itself. This terrorist aspect is intentionally not being covered, misplaced, ignored due to its political significance. As a terrorist getting killed will never be such an issue.

[Crookbond]

There are so many more questions to this case. Firstly, why is it labeled Ishrat Jahan case, what about the other 3 people. Why such a intentional differentiation between one and other 3? And then what difference does out to kill Modi vs "chota bota blast" do, at the end both are of wrong. And then back to evidence like LeT, Headley, IB and even yesterday, former IB director Ajit Doval said there was impeccable evidence against Ishrat. Although if I am correct, CBI themselves have not answered to the terrorist aspect . But given its political significance, the media + politician opponents are terming it otherwise and trying to create sympathy factor for that particular religion community. On that IB issue, it cannot really stand as IB is the supreme security agency of our country. And given, J & K is still one of the biggest issues, this would thenset an extremely dangerous situation. And if IB is blamed, then PMO should get the blame and thus will the central government want that?

Now, here is where I have a problem which I mentioned the other day - cherry picking of evidences. Sorry but none of the evidence you are stating is "evidence". LeT has revered back it's claim, NIA says that Headley has not communicated anything with them about Ishrat and then you can't expect IB to agree that it was their fault when they are under investigation themselves.

[someone]

Now' date=' here is where I have a problem which I mentioned the other day - cherry picking of evidences. Sorry but none of the evidence you are stating is "evidence". LeT has revered back it's claim, NIA says that Headley has not communicated anything with them about Headley and then you can't expect IB to agree that it was their fault when they are under investigation themselves.[/quote'] Well, it's usually gets into a me type debate with you so hopefully please you can avoid it this time Let's be honest, there are plenty of evidence but due to its political significance, that evidence is being labeled as "ongoing" processing. You may want to point out NIA, CBI but none of them have really said that Ishrat was not a terrorist. It's only some politicians who have "cried" and thus taken as counter evidence. As stated earlier, it's purposefully done this way for its political implications. BTW, if you check the case history, IB is the only one who is consistent while many others have simply switched sides at will. There are also other organizations, people have said that the girl was a terrorist. And watching a debate yesterday on TV, it seems like there are already a lot of theories said. Like the girl was kidnapped, girl just took a lift, or the girl simply was working to study people. Really? Why is it exclusive for her only?

[someone]

Here's an article from 2004, India Today magazine, when this encounter took place.

Innocence Betrayed JULY 05, 2004 It was the first spell of monsoon. Shamima Shaikh and three of her daughters were lazily surfing channels in their two-room apartment in Hasmat Park in the dreary township of Mumbra on the outskirts of Mumbai. Even as they settled down to watch a popular family melodrama, there was loud knocking on the door. Shamima's eldest daughter Zeenat Jehan opened the door only to find herself facing a battery of cameras and microphones. Mediapeople asked her about her sister Ishrat Jehan. Bewildered by the clamour, Zeenat just about made sense of the fact that Ishrat had been killed in a police encounter the previous morning on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. It was as if melodrama had come knocking and soon enough the lower middle-class family found themselves unwittingly starring in one. The second child of Mohammed and Shamima, the 19-year-old, five ft two inches, good looking and seemingly happy go lucky Ishrat was gunned down with three other alleged operatives of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). They were allegedly on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Ishrat was with her friend Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai and two others, Zeeshan Johar alias Janbaaz and Amjad Ali Rana alias Salim, identified as LeT suicide squad members and citizens of Pakistan. As the family rushed to the neighbours to borrow a newspaper, the news had already gripped this small hick town and the nation. "This can't be true" was the initial public reaction. Zeenat claims, "Ishrat has never killed an ant; just forget about her going on a murder mission. How can a caring person like her, who fends for her entire family, be a terrorist?" Testimonials of Ishrat's good character and behaviour poured in from school and college teachers, neighbours and friends. To Safia Qureshi, a neighbour, "Ishrat was a model daughter and sister who was mature enough at a tender age to support the family." Down south, in Kerala, M.R. Gopinatha Pillai, 67, a middle-class farmer and Congress activist, couldn't believe that his son Pranesh (alias Javed) could be involved in terrorist activities. Conspiracy swirled with cordite as politicians barged into the din. The pre-election environment in Maharashtra triggered curious reactions, charges and demands. NCP leader Vasant Dhavkare rushed to donate Rs 1 lakh to the family, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was cornered in Delhi and pressured to hand over the case to the CBI, M. Siddiqui, a Mumbai Congressman, said the encounter was engineered to save Modi from being ousted and Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party dubbed the encounter a fake and promised to take it up with the President of India. The doubts over the genuineness of the encounter are not unexpected. A self-confessed gangster Ketan Tirodkar has alleged on a sworn affidavit in the MCOCA court in Mumbai that he and encounter specialist Daya Nayak delivered one Sadiq Mehtar as a target for an encounter for the Gujarat Police in January 2003. Mehtar was dubbed a LeT operative and killed. While the court has admitted the statement as a petition and is looking into the charges, the credibility of the police has been seriously eroded. The June 15 encounter also raises several questions ranging from the timing of the incident to the manner in which the police were found scrambling to prove their case. Perhaps it is the lack of credibility that dogs the police force-particularly the Gujarat Police-across the country. But P.P. Pande, joint commissioner of police, Ahmedabad Crime Branch, doesn't think so and brushed off allegations of the encounter being stage managed: "Thanks to the coordination of intelligence and security agencies, we have been able to avert a great calamity." THE BOOTY Police recovered from the Indica one AK-56, one pistol, a satellite phone (its record is still being ascertained), diaries believed to be those of Ishrat, Salim and Javed with details. From the boot of the Indica the police recovered several coconuts and a sack of yellow powder which is being examined by forensic experts. The coconuts indicate that the four also intended to target a place of worship or a religious gathering, perhaps the Jagannath rath yatra in Ahmedabad to be held three days later. As the air cleared, police investigations revealed Ishrat was everything her family and neighbours believed. But she was also connected with LeT operatives. Typically, fundamentalist groups target young, educated non-stereotypes for indoctrination. Intelligence agents in Kashmir and Delhi have been regularly intercepting messages of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad modules aimed at Modi and VHP factotum Pravin Togadia. A message was intercepted in May in which LeT's Pakistan-based chief of Indian operations (barring Kashmir), Muzzamil alias Tariq, spoke to Javed. When Muzzamil asked him, "Lalaji kahan hain (Where is Advani)?" Javed replied, "Woh apne ghar pe hain (He is at home)." Then Muzzamil said, "Mubarak ka ab kuch karo (Do something about Modi)." Javed replied, "Khad ka intezam karo (Arrange for weapons and ammunition)." The names of the two Pakistani terrorists Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali also figured. Terrorists from Kashmir and the distraught in Gujarat seem to have formed an unusual coalition. As unusual as the pairing of Javed and Ishrat. Contrary to rumours, police reveal that there was no love angle. Like Manisha Koirala in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se, Ishrat had no romantic links with Javed but an allegiance to a cause. Says Amar Jadhav, DCP, crime branch, Thane, "Prima facie evidence suggests that Ishrat wasn't innocent. Her role and involvement are matters of investigation and deep concern." Police investigations reveal that Javed offered to get Ishrat a decent job in a good company and convinced her mother to send her for interviews to other cities, including Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Ishrat also acquired a cell phone and fashionable clothes. In fact, Javed and Ishrat made their first recce of Ahmedabad on March 13. Police are now scrutinising the CCTV footage at the Akshardham Temple to ascertain their second visit in May. Apparently, Javed and Ishrat, who had checked into an Ahmedabad hotel on May 15, had also visited the Akshardham Temple before leaving for Lucknow where they met Salim alias Rana on May 17. Rana accompanied them back to Pune where he stayed with Javed. What is not known is when and where the fourth member Janbaaz joined them. Javed's own connections and involvement are less of a mystery. Born Pramesh Kumar Pillai and baptised Javed Ghulam Muhammed Shaikh, he grew up in Thamarakkulam village in Alappuzha district of Kerala before he came to Pune in 1988 to train as an electrician and worked for various contractors including Ishrat's father in 1992. Besides an income Javed also acquired notoriety. He had been booked for rioting , grievous criminal trespass and possession of lethal weapons. Thereafter he worked in Dubai between 1998 and 2002. Armed with three passports Javed had apparently met Muzammil during his visit to Oman and joined the LeT. Javed last visited his father in the blue Indica with his children and returned to Pune on June 5. His father next saw him in photographs splashed in newspapers. It isn't clear as yet as to what triggered the public uproar. Perhaps it was the cold brutality of the encounter laid bare in the pictures splashed by TV channels and newspapers. Public perception revolved around an intriguing contradiction which accepted the apparent involvement of Javed and the two Pakistanis but refused to believe that Ishrat could have had anything to do with the trio despite her travels with them. This is not surprising because Ishrat didn't fit the stereotype. But then neither did Waleed Alsheri, who held a degree in aeronautical science, and Mohammed Atta, who studied at Technical University of Hamburg, two of those involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack. If the WTC attack was the response of warped minds to humiliations perceived and real, the enrolment of an Ishrat into a terrorist module is a symptom of desperation. In a sense the uproar over the killing of Ishrat Jehan symbolises the disquiet in civil society.

[Raghav_12]

Somethings are very clear with this investigation even after CBI attempting to downplay thingsas per their convenience. - Group of 4 that was travelling in that Indica was no way a group of innocent people. Atleast few of them, if not all,were terrorists beyond any reasonable doubt. - There were confirmed intelligence reports, received by Gujrat police, that atleast some people of that group have intentions of carrying out terrorist activities in Gujrat. - Ishrat name is being highlighted to give whole group a look of innocent victims. But it was not the case where innocents were picked randomly and killed to get accolades as widely reported by media. - Encounter is most likely to be fake one. There should be action against police officers involved in these killings. - Pity people giving so much credence to a denial posted on the website of LeT. Seriously now we are going t believe what LeT says? Then Taliban always denied being involved in 9/11. Tell that to America.