New Delhi: CPI(M) on Tuesday demanded the
resignation of Narendra Modi over SIT findings in the Ishrat
Jahan encounter killing case, saying a "cover-up" could not
have taken place without the knowledge of the Gujarat Chief
Minister and top state officials.
In a statement, the party Polit Bureau said the SIT
report that the so-called encounter killing of Jahan and three
others by Gujarat Police in June 2004 was nothing but a cold
blooded murder constitutes a "severe indictment" of the Modi
government.
The party alleged that the Modi government had done
everything in its power to shield the criminals in uniform and
to assassinate the character of the 19-year-old student.
"The order of the High Court to file a fresh FIR and
charges of murder against the police officers must be
immediately complied with. The accused must be arrested
without any delay...
"The investigation must cover the role of the Chief
Minister in the cover-up and this will not be possible as long
as Modi remains in power. Justice for the victims demands that
Modi quit office," the statement said.
"Could such a cover-up take place without the
acquiescence of the Chief Minister and top officials in the
Government? It is on record that at every stage of the case
the Government tried to subvert the processes of justice, just
as it had done in the nine cases pending before the courts on
the genocide of 2002," it said.
The party was also of the view that the role of certain
senior officers of central agencies, who were "complicit in
the faking of evidence" must also be investigated. The Central
Government must immediately take appropriate action on this
count, it added.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 15:54