Ishrat killing not a fake encounter: Gujarat govt

The Gujarat government has said it will challenge Monday's judicial inquiry report in the Ishrat Jehan case.

The judicial probe report said on Monday that the 2004 killing of young college girl Ishrat Jahan and three others suspected to be on a mission to "kill" Chief Minister Narendra Modi was a case of "fake encounter" by the police.

Reacting to this, Jai Narayan Vyas, spokesman for the Gujarat government said that the encounter was not fake and that the state government would challenge the report. He said in a statement that the report was not valid as the suspects had not been given a chance to explain their stand.

He also said the encounter was not fake and there was evidence to prove that Ishrat and the others were indeed linked to terrorism. He added that even the Centre had said so in an affidavit.

Vyas said that the Centre had said in an affidavit that Ishrat and Javed were LeT members.

The state government said the report was thus against the tenet of law and had been prepared in a hurry.

Metropolitan Magistrate S P Tamang's probe report submitted in the metropolitan court on Monday had said that Ishrat and others were killed in the fake encounter so that police officials could get rewards and promotions. Top Gujarat police officers have been accused of her murder.

On Tuesday, Ishrat Jehan's family too spoke out demanding justice. They sought punishment for the guilty. Her family said that the report proves what they had been saying all along -- that Ishrat was innocent and murdered by Gujarat policemen.

The Ishrat probe report:

The magisterial inquiry has focussed primarily on the inquest report, the post-mortem, forensic findings and the initial investigations by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM).

The findings have concluded that all four were shot at from close range.

The bullets recovered from the bodies of the four were from the 9 MM pistol and the AK-56 rifle. These are the same weapons which were found on the bodies of the four so-called terrorist.

In its report, the police had said that they fired 70 rounds during the encounter which was from stengun and service revolver. But not even one cartridge was found either from the bodies or from inside the Indica car.

The report says there is no evidence to suggest that Jishan and Amjhad Ali Rana were Pakistani nationals and their identities still remain a mystery.

The forensic report suggests that no gunpowder or lead from found from the handwash imprints of the accused, indicating that they had not fired.