Guilty should be punished in Ishrat Jahan case: Shinde

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday said those guilty of carrying out the alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan should be punished.

"Facts are facts. Guilty should be punished," he told the media here, when asked about the CBI's submission to the court in this case.

The Union Home Minister's comment assumes importance as the Ministry of Home Ministry officials have been maintaining that there was not enough evidence against Intelligence Bureau Special Director Rajendra Kumar and three others in the alleged fake encounter case.

The Home Ministry has been maintaining that CBI does not have enough evidence to prosecute Rajendra Kumar in the alleged fake encounter case.

The CBI has said that the Ishrat Jahan encounter was fake. The investigating agency, which yesterday filed a chargesheet in the case, contended that the encounter was a joint operation between Gujarat Police and Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau, SIB.

The CBI further said that charges have been established against ADGP PP Pandey, suspended police officers DG Vanzara, GL Singhal, Tarun Barot, NK Amin, Anaju Chaudhary and JG Parmar.

The CBI also said that investigation is on against Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau Rajinder Kumar and four officers of the agency. According to the chargesheet, Ishrat Jahan was not a terrorist, but the three others killed along with her had alleged terror links.

No political leader has been named in the CBI chargesheet.

Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old college girl from Mumbai, was killed in an encounter along with three others on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004.