Jun
25
Gujarat Updates: Ishrat Raza & Nanavati Commission
June 25, 2004 | Comments Off on Gujarat Updates: Ishrat Raza & Nanavati Commission
The Gujarat police have submitted their report to the Central Government on the executions of four individuals, including 19-year old Ishrat Jahan Raza, accused of planning to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Raza was from Bombay and the Maharashtra police have not found any evidence linking her to militant activities, increasing the likelihood that she died in a faked encounter. The Gujarat police has offered evidence of her alleged diary entries:
The incident, over the past week, had snowballed into a major controversy with questions being raised about the claims of the Gujarat Police and the quality of evidence being offered by it in describing the four as having links with the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Congress-led Maharashtra Government last week ordered an inquiry to ascertain if the Mumbai girl, Ishrat Jahan, had any criminal record. Thane Crime Branch officials who searched Ishrat’s residence in Mumbra had said that it was yet to find any evidence of the girl’s links with the terrorist outfit…
With the Gujarat Police claims appearing to be rather shaky and its Crime Branch requesting the Pakistani High Commission to collect the bodies of Jishan Joher and Amjadali Akbarali Rana, identified as Pakistani nationals belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit, the Home Ministry sought details of evidence gathered by the State police.
In other news, the Nanavati Commission, examining the Godhra carnage and the pogroms against Muslims in Gujarat in early 2002, will resume its investigation of the Godhra carnage with its first rehearing for the cross-examination on June 29:
beginning with retired DySP (railways) KC Bava, followed by DySP (railways) Noel Parmar on June 30. Both have investigated the Godhra case.
The commission released the first list of 10 witnesses to be examined, from the list of 24 submitted by activist-lawyer Mukul Sinha on behalf of the Gujarat Jansangharsh Manch.
Bava, who was shifted from the case just before DIG Rakesh Asthana came into the picture in April 2002, to be replaced by Parmar, had found evidence that the burning of S-6 was “provoked”.
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