Ishrat Jahan case: SC to hear plea to quash case against Gujarat police

In view of the statement made by 26/11 conspirator David Coleman Headley on Ishrat Jahan, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea seeking to quash the criminal case against the Gujarat policemen who were involved in the case.

In his deposition last month, Headley had claimed that Mumbra resident Ishrat Jahan was a suicide bomber for Pakistan-based terror outfit Laskhar-e-Taiba.

"The operation was about shooting the police at some naka. One woman LeT named Ishrat Jahan was involved. Muzammil Bhatt was the head of our group before Sajid Mir," he told the court via video conferencing.

In June 2004, Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were shot dead by the Gujarat police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

The police had alleged that Ishrat and her associates were LeT operatives involved in a plot to assassinate the Narendra Modi who was the chief minister of Gujarat.

After a long investigation, in 2009, an Ahmedabad Metropolitan court ruled that the encounter was staged.

Earlier, Former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said it was a matter of investigation whether Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist or not, but added that her name was mentioned in the martyr's list of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Speaking exclusively to ANI, Pillai said it was a matter of investigation whether Ishrat was involved or an unwitting player.

"There was no direct evidence, except that LeT did put her name on the website and later on withdrew it, so I said maybe she was unwitting player."

However, taking responsibility for the second affidavit, former finance minister P. Chidambaram said that it was disappointing that Pillai is distancing himself from it.

"Which part of the second affidavit is wrong? I accept the responsibility for this affidavit. It is disappointing that the Home Secretary, who is equally responsible, wants to distance himself from that," Chidambaram told the media here.