Ahmedabad: Amjad Ali Rana, a native of Sargoda in Pakistan who along with Ishrat Jahan and two others was killed in a "fake" encounter here in 2004, had stated during his interrogation that he was in the city not to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi but to carry out attack in public places, a police officer told CBI.
"Motive of Amjad Ali Rana was not to assassinate the Chief Minister, but to attack some public place in city where a large number of people will gather (like Rath Yatra)," Bharat Patel, Police Inspector, told CBI in his testimony which is a part of the chargesheet in the encounter case.
"In the last week of April 2004, (IPS officer, now suspended) G L Singhal had told me to keep watch at Ahmedabad Railway station as some LeT member was coming... Inspectors Tarun Barot and R I Patel were also there."
"I and Singhal had noticed the suspect (Rana) leaving the railway station on a two-wheeler along with Ashad (Singhal`s source). Ashad was introduced to (senior IB officer) Rajinder Kumar by (IPS officer) DG Vanzara," the statement reads.
"Ashad and another source, Ovaish, were taken over by Kumar and both played roles given by the IB in the operation that finally culminated in this case of police encounter," Patel said, adding that Ashad and Ovaish were taken away and kept under complete control of Intelligence Bureau somewhere. "On May 26, 2004, Rana was taken from an auto-rickshaw by ACP NK Amin and Barot at Gota crossroads. SIB officers Rajiv Wankhede, MK Sinha and T Mittal were nearby on the watch. I and PSI IK Chauhan were also nearby but we had not participated in (this) abduction," Patel adds.
According to CBI, Rana and others were in police`s custody long before they were killed in the "so-called encounter".
"I was deputed by DG Vanzara to keep watch on the captive (Rana) at Arham Farms," Patel further stated before CBI.
Singhal and Bharat Patel then interrogated Rana. "After long hours of patient and tactful interrogation, Rana identified himself as a native of Sargoda in Pakistan and his motive was to carry out some terrorist strikes in densely-populated Hindu area of Ahmedabad," Patel told CBI.
"Rana told about Muzammil, LeT commander, and their intention was to attack some public place in Ahmedabad where a large numbers of people will gather....He also told that he came from Pakistan and entered India from Jammu and Kashmir. He used to communicate information to Pakistan through sat-phone in matrix format."
Further, Patel told CBI that on June 14, 2004 "Kumar handed over an AK-56 rifle, ammunitions, magazines, two pistols and its ammunitions to Singhal in a bag. Singhal handed over the bag to Nizam, who delivered it to Barot".
Rana, Mumbra-based 19-year-old girl Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai and Zeeshan Johar were gunned down by Gujarat police on June 15, 2004 on the outskirts of the city. Police had then claimed that these four were on a mission to assassinate Narendra Modi.
CBI`s chargesheet names seven police officers, including Singhal, Vanzara and Barot, as being involved in the fake encounter.
PTI
