Ishrat case: CBI questions Vanzara on his resignation letter

AHMEDABAD: Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case, today questioned suspended IPS officer D G Vanzara at Sabarmati Jail here over his resignation letter, in which he has said he and other police officers were simply following the state government's "conscious policy".

CBI sources said the questions pertained to his resignation letter, in which he has also faulted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for not protecting the police officers who came under cloud in fake encounter cases in Gujarat.

Vanzara (59), an officer of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police, jailed in fake encounter cases, resigned on September 1. In his resignation letter, he expressed bitterness about the way Modi government failed to stand by him and other officers who implemented the government's "conscious policy" of "eliminating terrorism", and "zero tolerance".

The 1987-batch IPS officer was considered to be close to Modi. In particular, his letter accuses former Minister of State (Home) Amit Shah of betraying him and 32 other officers who are now in jail in connection with various encounter cases from Gujarat that CBI is probing.

Vanzara says in the letter that he once adored Modi as a `God', who could not rise to the occasion under the "evil" influence of Shah.

Shah is Vanzara's co-accused in Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases.