Is UPA trying to trap Modi before the 2014 LS polls, asks Naresh Aggarwal

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Aggarwal on Saturday questioned the government over its delay in probing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's alleged role in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

Aggarwal said that it was beyond logic to understand why the government and the investigating agencies reporting to it, have taken four years to probe the matter.

"Its is not that Narendra Modi will be spared. But what I want to say is that the CBI that has been probing the matter since 2009, why it could not get to Narendra Modi till date. And now when the elections are approaching, they are trying to find out the truth. So, this gives a clear message that this government is knowingly trying to trap Narendra Modi. We should leave all this to the court," he said.

According to certain media reports, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is not convinced with the evidence gathered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against a senior Intelligence Bureau (IB) official in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

Modi had earlier on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the Congress Party, and alleged that it is using undemocratic means to stay in power at the Centre.

Referring to the questioning of top Intelligence Bureau official by the CBI in Ishrat Jahan encounter case, Modi said that the Congress Party has pitted the CBI and IB against each other

The CBI had earlier this month grilled Intelligence Bureau Special Director Rajinder Kumar on his alleged role in the conspiracy to carry out the fake encounter in which Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed nine years ago.

19-year-old Ishrat was killed along with three others on June 15, 2004 allegedly by a team of Crime Branch officials on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

The CBI investigating the case on the directive of the Gujarat High Court wants to charge the then Ahmedabad IB station chief Rajender Kumar for conspiracy to murder.

The Crime Branch had then claimed the four were LeT members and were on a mission to kill Modi.