CBI to question IB officer as accused in Ishrat case

In a fresh notice, CBI has summoned Special Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajendra Kumar to record his statement as an accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
In another development in connection with the case, CBI has intensified efforts to nab additional DGP of Gujarat P P Pandey who has allegedly gone absconding even as warrants have been issued by special CBI court against him.
The 1980-batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre was the Joint Commissioner of Police in Ahmedabad in 2004 when Ishrat was killed in a fake encounter allegedly by crime branch officials in June.
Kumar, a 1979-batch IPS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre, who was questioned earlier has been asked to present himself before the agency again and record his statement as an accused in the case, CBI sources said.

They said fresh notices under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been issued as previous examination of the officer was not satisfactory and replies given by him appeared diversionary.
A decision about his custodial interrogation will be taken only after the fresh round of questioning.

The sources said the role of the officer who was posted in State Intelligence Bureau in 2004 had come under the scanner of the agency for the alleged fake input.
They said his statement would be crucial in finalising the charge sheet in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case as he was alleged to have played a crucial role in generating an intelligence input about purported plan of Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The CBI on the instruction of the Gujarat High Court took over the probe of the fake encounter in which 19-year-old Ishrat, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004 allegedly by a Crime Branch team led by DIG DG Vanzara.