The CBI, which is preparing to file a supplementary chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, may record the statements of certain accused police officers again in the wake of the revelations made by jailed Indian Police Service officer D.G. Vanzara.
Sources said, “CBI may seek fresh clarifications from certain jailed police officers in connection with the case. The agency is examining the contents of Vanzara’s resignation letter for possible evidence, if any”. Vanzara, a key chargesheeted accused in the Ishrat Jahan encounter, recently quit after slamming Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and former junior state home minister Amit Shah. Vanzara is among the seven policemen then belonging to the Ahmedabad crime branch chargesheeted by the CBI in the case. The agency is likely to file a supplementary chargesheet in the case by the end of this month.
Vanzara is lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail since 2007 after his arrest in connection with alleged fake encounter killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh. He was subsequently made prime accused in the alleged encounter deaths of Sohrabuddin’s associate Tulsiram Prajapati and Ishrat Jahan and three others. “Seeking fresh clarifications from some of the accused before filing supplementary chargesheet in the case, can not be ruled out,” sources said. The CBI may file at least two supplementary chargesheets in the case. While the first supplementary charge-sheet will be based on the agency’s investigations into the conspiracy which led to the encounter of Mumbai-based teenager, the second one will give details of the CBI’s probe into the tapes carrying the purported conversations of the Gujarat government officials discussing ways and means to save the accused cops, sources added. The CBI is likely to use the conversations in the tapes to give details of the conspiracy.