Ishrat Jahan's killing staged: Judicial probe report

The 2004 police encounter in which 19-year-old Mumbra college girl Ishrat Jahan and three others were gunned down in Ahmedabad was fake and executed in cold blood, a judicial probe has said. On Monday, the panel appointed by the court to investigate the encounter submitted its report.

The 2004 police encounter in which 19-year-old Mumbra college girl Ishrat Jahan and three others were gunned down in

HT Image

Ahmedabad was fake and executed in cold blood, a judicial probe has said.

On Monday, the panel appointed by the court to investigate the encounter submitted its report.

“We are happy that Ishrat’s innocence has been proved. This is the first step towards justice… We want to remove the stain that my daughter has been branded a terrorist,” said Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar whose petition seeking CBI investigation prompted the Gujarat High Court to appoint the panel this August.

On June 15, 2004, Ishrat and three others — Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani — were gunned down by the Gujarat police who claimed they were linked to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and were planning to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Magistrate S P Tamang who conducted the probe said the four victims had no links to Lashkar.

The report said the encounter was “planned” and executed “mercilessly”. Senior police officer planned the encounter to impress Modi, get promotion and secure their positions.

‘I’ll keep fighting till we get justice’

Ishrat Jahan’s family feels vindicated. A judicial probe in Gujarat has confirmed what they had been maintaining all along. That she was killed in a fake encounter.

“We’re very happy that finally Ishrat’s innocence has been proved. This is the first step towards justice,” said younger sister Musarrat Jahan (22), a receptionist at a local hotel.

Ishrat and three others were gunned down by the Ahmedabad police on June 15, 2004. The police claimed the four were Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists out to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar (45) said: “ We want justice. We had to suffer a lot these five years. I’ll keep fighting till the time we get justice.”

Shamima said she first heard of Ishrat’s death when a TV channel announced that she had died in an encounter. “ I didn’t even know what an encounter was then.”

The last time Shamima saw her 19-year-old daughter, a second-year science student of Guru Nanak Khalsa College at King’s Circle, was when she left home on June 11, 2004, saying she was going to Nashik for a job. Ishrat called later in the day to say she had reached Nashik and that she would call later.

In the five years since her death, the family that lives in Rashid Compound in the Muslim-dominated area of Mumbra in Thane district, has struggled to survive.

Shamima says the allegation against Ishrat meant her siblings found it difficult to get jobs. The family’s eldest daughter Zeenat Jahan (25) does not work and is not married.

Brother Anwar Iqbal (21) teaches at a computer coaching centre in Mumbra. He said he couldn’t get jobs outside the locality. Twice he was turned out when his employers learnt his background . “I want all those responsible for her death to be punished.”

The three youngest children are still students. Nuzhat Jahan, 19, is a first year college student while 17-year-old Nusrat attends junior college. Amanullah (13) does not attend school but plans to sit for the exams privately.

On Monday evening, they were all at home facing the TV cameras and offering sweets to wellwishers.