Ishrat was not a terrorist: CBI

Nine years after Gujarat Police gunned down Ishrat Jahan inan alleged shootout, the CBI yesterday filed a chargesheet naming at least six policemen as accused.

Truth triumphs: After the chargesheet was filed, Ishrat Jahan's family held a press conference, where her sister (in burqa) said that she is happy as it has been proven that her sibling was innocent. Pic/Sameer Markande

While stating that Ishrat, who lived in Thane, was not a terrorist as alleged by Gujarat Police, the CBI chargesheet named policemen P P Pande, A Choudhary, D G Vanzare, Tarun Barot, J R Parmar and N K Amin among the accused.

The investigative agency accused the policemen, including Indian Police Service officers, of murder, abduction, conspiracy and destruction of evidence, among other offences. The formal set of charges were filed by Assistant Commissioner of Police P Rathod in a Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) special court.

Declaring that Ishrat was not a terrorist, the CBI said that three others killed in the same alleged shootout June 15, 2004 were suspected of terror links.

Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh, Amjad ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar, who were killed in the incident in addition to Ishrat, were allegedly planning terror attacks in Ahmedabad.

The CBI said Pillai was allegedly using Ishrat, a collegian, hailing from Mumbra town of Thane, as a shield to cover his activities.

Contrary to expectations, no politicians have been named in the chargesheet and the CBI plans to file a supplementary document within a month in the case.u00a0