Ishrat was not a terrorist: CBI

Agency has also found that the FIR of the encounter was prepared before the encounter took place by the Gujarat Police

Nine years after 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan was killed along with three others by Gujarat Police, CBI today ruled out her involvement in terror activities and said she was accompanying Javed Sheikh on his trip to Ahmedabad as he was her employer.

CBI sources said here although the agency has not mentioned antecedents of either of four individuals -- Javed Sheikh, Ishrat Jahan, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar -- killed in the encounter on June 15, 2004, it plans to give a detailed report on the conspiracy which led to the extra-judicial killings in the supplementary charge sheet.

The sources said the agency has also found during its probe that the FIR of the encounter, in which four persons were killed on June 15, 2004, was prepared before the encounter took place by the Gujarat Police.

Contrary to various theories on the reasons why Ishrat chose to accompany Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai on his trip to Gujarat where they were killed, CBI sources said she was an employee of Sheikh who had helped her family during a crisis.

The sources said Sheikh was an employee of Ishrat's father and was known to their family for quite a long time. Sheikh later established his own business in Mumbai and was doing well.

They said after the death of Ishrat's father, family was in dire need of money and for the sake of goodwill, Sheikh gave her employment in his business.

CBI found in its investigation that Ishrat accompanied Sheikh on his trip to Ahmedabad where they were allegedly picked by officials of subsidiary intelligence bureau, state unit of country's snooping agency Intelligence Bureau, and Gujarat Crime Branch officials.