The Hindu : National : Vanzara implicated as “chief conspirator”

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Monday, Feb 25, 2008
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Vanzara implicated as “chief conspirator”

Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR: The prime accused in the alleged Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and the former Gujarat Additional Director General of Police, D. G. Vanzara, has now been officially implicated as the “chief conspirator” of the case in the affidavit filed by the investigating agency before the High Court.

Mr. Vanzara, who is on three days’ interim bail from Sunday to attend his nephew’s marriage in Bangalore, declined to make any comment when mediapersons asked him whether he believed that he had been “framed” in the encounter case by the political leadership of the State government.

Mr. Vanzara, who was out on bail for the first time since his arrest in connection with the encounter case in April last year, said the matter was sub judice and he would not make any comment related to the fake encounter case. The interim bail granted by the High Court requires him to report back to the Sabarmati jail by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

The affidavit filed by the CID (Crime) investigating into the Sohrabuddin case before the high court to contest Mr Vanzara’s regular bail application, claimed that Mr. Vanzara as the then head of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had masterminded Sohrabuddin’s fake encounter and subsequently to eliminate his wife, Kauserbi, to destroy evidence.

The affidavit filed by the police inspector, R. H. Hadiya, of the CID (Crime) claimed that the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin in November, 2005, and killing of his wife two days later “is nothing but misuse of powers and hence no necessity to sanction him bail.”

The affidavit also claimed that the material collected during the course of the investigation had established Mr. Vanzara’s role in hatching the conspiracy. “He was at the helm of the affairs at the ATS and he started the operation to eliminate Sohrabuddin.” About the murder of Kauserbi, it said: “Mr. Vanzara had knowledge of the fact that if she is allowed to go from the captivity, she would disclose the crime.”

It claimed that Kauserbi was eliminated in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Gandhinagar at Mr. Vanzara’s instance, and the body was taken to Ilol in Sabarkantha district, the native village of Mr. Vanzara, for disposal. The reason given for taking the body to Ilol was the standing of the police officer in his native village and “in any eventuality, no one would have courage to ask questions against him.” Besides, the body could be cremated in a remote place and all traces of evidences deleted and all other remains could be disposed of at a third place difficult to identify.

Sourcing its information about the disposal of Kauserbi’s body to the then ATS police driver, Gurdayal Singh, the affidavit for the first time also claimed that his statement was recorded before a judicial magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code which made the evidence tenable in the court even if the witness later retracted it.

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