Modi, Shah under lens for 2003 encounter

AHMEDABAD (TNN): The CBI has for the first time submitted before a court that it is investigating "relevant points" of the allegations about the role allegedly played by chief minister Narendra Modi, former minister Amit Shah and top IB police officer Rajinder Kumar in the Sadiq Jamal Mehtar fake encounter case. Sadiq was killed near Galaxy cinema in Naroda in January 2003. After the encounter, the city crime branch had dubbed him a terrorist out on a mission to kill Modi and other saffron leaders to avenge the 2002 Gujarat riots. On Thursday the probe agency also submitted before a special CBI court that it was looking into the conduct of officers of the subsidiary Intelligence Bureau in Mumbai and those who had projected the Bhavnagar youth as a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative. The CBI said it was probing further into the conduct of Mumbai-based journalist Ketan Tirodkar and 'encounter specialist' police officer Daya Nayak. The agency made these submissions in response to the special court's notice over the demand for further investigation made by Shabbir, Sadiq's brother. Shabbir had claimed the CBI had gone silent after chargesheeting eight policemen last December, though the probe report showed the murder was part of a larger conspiracy and various agencies were involved in it. Shabbir's application said the roles of top police officers such as D G Vanzara and P P Pande had not been investigated yet. He had demanded a probe into "the role played by then home minister and the chief minister in the entire conspiracy and (directions to) the CBI to file a supplementary chargesheet and take such further necessary actions required under the law." Special CBI judge V K Vyas posted the case for further hearing on July 3. Justice M R Shah of the Gujarat high court had handed over the investigation of the case to the CBI in 2011.