Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case: Gujarat ACP faces arrest

Mumbai: A local court has allowed CBI to arrest suspended Gujarat ACP Narendra Amin, facing trial in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. "The special court in Gujarat had last week issued a production warrant against Amin. We submitted the production warrant in the Mumbai CBI court, which is trying Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, and it gave us permission to present him (Amin) before the Gujarat court", special CBI prosecutor Ejaz Khan said on Monday.

Khan said that after a CBI team, armed with the warrant, went to a jail in Gujarat where Amin is currently lodged to take his custody, the authorities there informed that Amin was in hospital.

Ishrat (19), who hailed from Mumbra in neighbouring Thane district, along with accomplices Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai and two alleged Pakistani nationals Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar, was killed in an encounter on June 15, 2004 on a desolate stretch between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

The special court in Gujarat had last week issued a production warrant against the ACP who is currently in jail.

Police had claimed that Ishrat and others were on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. After Ishrat's mother complained about the alleged fake encounter, the Gujarat High Court constituted a Special Investigation Team which concluded that the encounter was staged.

Following the SIT report, the high court handed over the case to CBI on December 1, 2011 and is monitoring the probe. Meanwhile, the local CBI court on Monday rejected the application filed by former DIG DG Vanzara, lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, in connection with the Sohrabuddin encounter case, seeking his transfer to Gujarat jail on the ground that he was facing threat from the accused of banned SIMI.

While turning down the application, the court directed the jail authorities to provide Vanzara adequate security.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)