Uneasy calm prevails in the higher echelons of the Gujarat government with the Central Bureau of Investigation questioning two Ministers and a former minister, besides two officials in the Chief Minister’s Office, in the case of alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan.
During the last 48 hours, even as the State’s attention was drawn to flood fury in all major cities and regions, the CBI grilled for hours Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Minister of State for Law Pradeepsinh Jadeja and former Minister of State for Home Praful Patel in Gandhinagar.
This amid the buzz in the CBI about possible questioning in the near future of the former Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, now the BJP national general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh and close aide of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He is an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, along with several police officials, and is out on bail.
The agency also interrogated Principal Secretary in the CMO G.C. Murmu and Additional Principal Secretary A.K. Sharma.
The interrogation follows the recording of a November 2011 meeting, held in the antechamber of Advocate-General Kamal Trivedi’s office, allegedly to discuss how to derail investigations in the Ishrat case.
The proceedings were taped by the former IPS officer G.L. Singhal, who too had participated in the meeting and is an accused among seven officials in this case. He was arrested in February this year but he obtained bail as the CBI failed to file a charge sheet against him within the stipulated 90-day period.
It was after this that Mr. Singhal handed over to the CBI the taped 10-page conversation, in two pen-drives, which is now part of the charge sheet.
It is speculated that Mr. Singhal’s alleged disclosure is an indication that he like several police officials, who are languishing in jail in different fake encounter cases, is restless about his continued suffering while the political masters are out.The recent resignation by the political establishment’s most trusted lieutenant, suspended Deputy Inspector General D.G. Vanzara, who blamed Mr. Amit Shah for the “plight” of police officials in jails, is a case in point.