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Notice to Modi on charges of fresh encounter deaths

Legal Correspondent

Petitioners move apex court seeking CBI investigation

My son was killed to enhance Modi’s image: petitioner
Innocents killed on pretext they were terrorists: plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Gujarat government and Chief Minister Narendra Modi on a petition seeking a CBI probe into the fake encounter of Pranesh Kumar Pillai alias Javed Gulam Mohammed Sheikh in Gujarat in June 2004.

A Bench consisting of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam issued notice returnable in two weeks on the petition by M.R. Gopinatha Pillai of Kerala alleging that his son was killed by the Gujarat police.

The petitioner said his son, who had converted to Islam, was working in a travel agency. He was killed when he was going to visit his (petitioner’s) family. He alleged that the police murdered his son on June 15, 2004 in the guise of an encounter, planned and executed with an ulterior motive to enhance the political image of Mr. Modi.

Mr. Pillai said four people were killed on that day alleging that they were Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.

“No evidence”

The petitioner said the police had not produced any evidence so far to substantiate that his son had any links with the terrorist group or anti-social elements. There was no police case or complaint pending against his son.

Mr. Pillai said he made a representation to the Gujarat Chief Secretary to investigate the murder but no action was taken. He sought a CBI probe.

The Bench, after hearing counsel Prashant Bhushan also issued notice to the Gujarat government on another writ petition filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar and Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad for a CBI probe into all ‘fake encounter’ deaths in the recent past, including that of Saleem Khan and the subsequent ‘cover-up’ operations by the State government.

The petitioners said the same police team had been found to have carried out the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and thereafter raped and killed his wife Kausarbi.

Pattern seen

They said “it appears from all the incidents of fake encounters, a pattern has emerged of killing innocent people, particularly Muslims, on the pretext that they were members of the dreaded terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed and there being a conspiracy to kill Mr. Modi.”

The court is already hearing a plea by Rubabuddin Sheikh, brother of Sohrabuddin.

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