Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and said that the latter needs to give an answer to the nation on the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
"Without an active connivance of the state apparatus at that point of time such a massacre could not have taken place in Gujarat in 2002 and such fake encounter could not have taken place in Gujarat and Narendra Modi being the Chief Minister of Gujarat owes a lot of answer to the nation," he said.
Congress leader Harish Rawat on his part said that it was the direct responsibility of the Gujarat Home Minister and Chief Minister if fake encounter takes place.
"The encounter which was carried out in such a systematic manner and in which such high officials were involved, it could not have taken place without a strong back up. Secondly, it is the direct responsibility of the Home Minister and Chief Minister of the state if any fake encounter takes place," he said.
Meanwhile, Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand Tiwari accused the Narendra Modi Government of attempting to suppress the Ishrat Jahan case.
"In the investigation that has been undertaken, it has come to the limelight that the police and the government of Gujarat had tried to suppress the issue and they also tried to do away with it," he said.
The CBI has said that the Ishrat Jahan encounter was fake. The investigating agency, which yesterday filed a chargesheet in the case, contended that the encounter was a joint operation between Gujarat Police and Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau, SIB.
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The CBI further said that charges have been established against ADGP PP Pandey, suspended police officers DG Vanzara, GL Singhal, Tarun Barot, NK Amin, Anaju Chaudhary and JG Parmar.
The CBI also said that investigation is on against Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau Rajinder Kumar and four officers of the agency. According to the chargesheet, Ishrat Jahan was not a terrorist, but the three others killed along with her had alleged terror links.
No political leader has been named in the CBI chargesheet.
Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old college girl from Mumbai, was killed in an encounter along with three others on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004.