Former Gujarat top police officer D.G. Vanzara, a key accused in the fake encounter cases of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Ishrat Jahan, returned home after nine years to a hero’s welcome, after the court lifted the ban on his entry in Gujarat.
When he arrived at the Ahmedabad airport from Mumbai, his family members and hundreds of supporters had assembled to welcome him. He was showered with rose petals and was seated on a chariot. He then drove to the Gandhinagar town hall where he was felicitated by his supporters and fans wearing caps with the slogan “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”
Mr. Vanzara said such a grand welcome was not for him, but for the Gujarat police. He also thanked his supporters and family members, who stood by him during his “ordeal” after he was arrested by the Gujarat police in connection with the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case in 2007. Mr. Vanzara is a key accused in the two highly politicised and controversial fake encounter cases: the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case, which also includes the murder of his wife Kauser Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati; and the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, in which four persons, including the Mumbra girl, were killed.
In February 2015, the Mumbai High Court granted him bail in the Sohrabuddin case. Subsequently, he got bail in the Ishrat case but the court asked him not to enter Gujarat. Recently, the CBI court modified its bail order, allowing him to return to Gujarat.
Known as an “encounter specialist”, Mr. Vanzara, in 2013, wrote a scathing letter to the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, offering his resignation. In his 10-page letter, Mr. Vanzara had accused BJP leader Amit Shah, a former junior Home Minister under Mr. Modi in Gujarat, of using police officials as a “sacrificial lamb” in encounter cases.
