CBI probe sought into Ahmedabad 'encounter'

In a new twist to the killing of four "terrorists" in Ahmedabad, the Maharashtra government today ordered an inquiry to ascertain whether the Mumbai-based girl shot dead had any criminal record as the Congress in Gujarat demanded a CBI probe alleging that the encounter was "fabricated".

"I have asked authorities to conduct an inquiry whether the girl was involved in any criminal activities and had any crime record," Maharshtra Home Minister said as police talked to staff of the college where Ishrat Jahan Shaikh studied.

The home minister, refusing to divulge any details, said he has sought the report in three days. "Only after I receive the report I will be able to say anything in this regard," he said.

About Ishrat, who stays in minority-dominated Mumbra in the neighbouring Thane district, Amar Jadhav, deputy commissioner of police, said "we have still not found any evidence that could lead to the girl's links with any terrorist group."

Ishrat, who was killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police in Ahemdabad for allegedly plotting to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on June 15, was studying in Gurunanak Khalsa College in Matunga, Central Mumbai.

With the Thane police yet to ascertain 19-year-old Ishrat's alleged terrorist links, opposition leader in Gujarat Assembly Amarsinh Chaudhary termed the encounter as "fabricated" and sought a CBI probe into the matter.

"The entire encounter has been fabricated with an intention to save Modi from the ongoing political crisis," Chaudhary said in Gandhinagar referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's statement that Gujarat riots could be deliberated upon in the BJP's national executive beginning in Mumbai on June 22.

In view of both the BJP and the NDA pointing fingers at Modi's handling of post-Godhra riots for the party's debacle in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the encounter was "staged to divert the attention from the on-going crisis," the opposition leader claimed.

Even as thane police searched Ishrat's residence in Mumbra, questioned her mother and siblings and visited her college, they "could not found any links of deceased girl to a terrorist outfit."

"We have not found any objectionable material during the search," DCP Suresh Suryavanshi said. However, the Gujarat Police were tightlipped over the claim made by their thane counterparts.

"I can not comment on the issue before talking to Thane police," Ahmedabad police commissioner KR Kaushik said.