Ishrat Jahan's mom seeks Chidambaram's help

Mumbra: The TOI report on Ishrat Jahan's Lashkar-e-Taiba links stirred a fresh controversy on Monday, with the slain 19-year-old Mumbra girl's mother seeking a clarification from Union home minister P Chidambaram on the issue.

Ishrat's mother, Shamima Kausar (51), without going into the details of the LeT charge, reiterated that her daughter was killed in cold blood in a staged gun battle by the Gujarat Police in 2004. "The news is an attempt to prejudice Gujarat HC, which is looking into my appeal for a CBI probe in Ishrat's death. Already a magisterial inquiry in Gujarat has declared the encounter as fake and proved her innocence. I'll approach the union home minister and ask him to come clean on this issue,'' Kausar told TOI.

Ishrat, a collegian, was shot dead along with three others in a shootout in Ahmedabad. Gujarat police claimed that the four were LeT operatives out to kill CM Narendra Modi. Kausar pursued the case in Gujarat courts with support from Jitendra Awhad, NCP MLA from Mumbra-Kausa.

"It's only an attempt to scare the mother,'' said Rauf Lala, a Mumbra-based lawyer assisting Kausar in the case against Gujarat government.

Kausar said it's not going to cow her down and that it'll strengthen her resolve for getting justice for Ishrat. She said her eldest daughter's death in such circumstances had initially led to much suspicion and scorn from neighbours but a court order by judicial magistrate S Tamang -- doubting the veracity of the encounter -- had cleared those misconceptions.