Gujarat's 'encounter cop' DG Vanzara retires in jail

AHMEDABAD: Suspended IPS officer DG Vanzara retired from Sabarmati Central Jail on Saturday, marking an inglorious end to a controversial career. An accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, Vanzara has been behind bars for the past seven years. Successively, Vanzara was made accused in several other fake encounter cases like those of Tulsi Prajapati, Sadik Jamal and Ishrat Jahan.

In spite of several attempts, Vanzara could not get bail for himself unlike many of his fellow IPS officers, who too had landed behind the bars on similar allegations. That meant he could not receive a farewell accorded to many of his accused colleagues. Vanzara was posted as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) border range, when he was arrested in 2007. Vanzara had created ripples last year when he had submitted a resignation letter where he named Narendra Modi, then the Gujarat chief minister, as his god.