Ahmedabad: Three IPS officers from Gujarat - all supposed to have been leading the fight against terrorism - now face arrest for faking an encounter.
Former DIG (Operations) of Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS); D G Vanjara, SP ATS; and MN Dinesh an officer of the Rajasthan ATS have been arrested for killing Sohrabuddin Sheikh in 2005 after falsely claiming that he was a Lashkar operative.
The trio gunned down Sheikh claiming he was on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Sheikh's wife, who was with him at the time of the incident, is still missing.
Two years after the incident, the arrest has been welcomed by activists.
“It's a very good step. Police terrorism and encounter killing directed by politicians is a major issue in Gujarat,” said activist Teesta Setalvad.
That politicians were indeed involved in Sheikh's death was revealed by an investigation by CNN-IBN’s sister network IBN7which found Sheikh extorting money from builders in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The builders would then ask a Gujarat BJP to get rid of him.
IBN-7 story reveals that Gujarat's anti-terrorist squad was used to get him killed and that this was no isolated incident.
“I was asked by high level bureaucrats to plan elimination of people. I said it's illegal,” said former Gujarat IPS officer, Sreekumar.
Incidentally, Gujarat Police claim in the Sheikh killing have been proven false. Police sya Sohrabuddin was travelling on a motorcycle. It has been found that he was actually inside a bus.
Police claim he wanted to assassinate Modi. But the fact is he had no connection with Modi. He was labelled a Lashkar militant. It's now known he was an extortionist.
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