Click to play videoAhmedabad: The bungalows — Arham and Disha — once used by DG Vanzara, the former director for the anti-terrorism squad of Gujarat police, and his juniors sport a deserted look now.
It is believed that the doors to these bungalows once opened to keep captives like Kauserbi and Pahalwan. While few of the captives walked out to live on, others were levelled as terrorists and killed in staged encounters.
Israr Sheikh, also known as Pehelwan, was a local Ahmedabad strongman, bootlegger and wanted criminal. The law eventually caught up with him, but instead of booking him for bootlegging, the police asked his family for hard cash to release him.
According to Israr's family, the men in uniform called them asking for cash. "Humko pachaas laakh chahiye nahi to encounter, (They said give us Rs 50 lakhs or he will be killed in an encounter)," says Akram, Israr's brother.
Akram says even he was taken away by Vanzara's men. And it was they who made this extortion call. Pahalwan is not the only one.
It is now becoming increasingly clear that Gujarat's anti-terror squad officers were virtually guns for hire and Vanzara was allegedly the top gun.
Sources reveal that many other men were brought to their bungalows, just outside Ahmedabad, and Vanzara's team was regularly making extortion demands from families of criminals, threatening to kill them in staged encounters.
These are allegations that will make it tough for Vanzara and his men to try and clear their names in the fake encounter case.
Kadir lives today to tell his story of illegal confinement and police torture. Kadir was kept in confinement simply because he stays near Sohrabuddin. Kadir says he was not only illegally detaind, but also tortured.
Kadir says he was detained inside the anti-terror squad headquarters. "Mere haath mein Choubey ne wire lagaya, mujhe shock diye gaye ek ghante tak (I was given electric shocks for one hour)," Kadir says.
(With Hemender Sharma)
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