NK Amin's role bigger than PP Pandey, DG Vanzara in Ishrat Jahan fake encounter killing case: CBI

AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is the prosecution agency in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter killing case, told the special court here today that accused IPS officer N K Amin had played a more active role than co-accused D G Vanzara and P P Pandey.

Opposing Amin's bail plea, public prosecutor L D Tiwari told Special CBI court Judge K R Upadhyaya, on behalf of the probe agency, that Amin had played an active role in the encounter than the two other accused officers.

"Amin had played an active role compared to Pandey and Vanzara in the fake encounter (of Ishrat Jahan and three others)," Tiwari said.

Amin, who is the only police officer in jail in the case, had moved his bail plea on February 16 on grounds of parity with other accused as also citing his deteriorating health conditions.

However, Tiwari contended that "parity" cannot be considered the sole ground for granting bail to an accused in the case of an encounter.

"Parity is not a compelling reason and it cannot be a sole ground to grant bail. D G Vanzara and P P Pandey were granted bail, but according to witness testimony, Amin's presence was established right from the encounter victims' confinement, to their killings," Tiwari said.

Pandey and Vanzara were released by the Special CBI Court on February 5.

"Amin is said to have chased the blue Indica car, in which three people travelled to Ahmedabad, but witnesses in the case had stated that they never saw Amin chasing the car," Tiwari said.

Tiwari said that Amin had interrogated the four people in a farmhouse on the city outskirts and was also involved in their killing.