Ishrat Jahan case: Gujarat police find CBI safer than colleague

AHMEDABAD: The BJP calls the CBI ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’ for its action in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. But a section of the Gujarat police finds the CBI a safer bet than a colleague, Satish Verma, as far as the Ishrat encounter probe is concerned.
Fourteen police officers suspected of involvement in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case urged the Gujarat high court on Tuesday to hand over the probe against them to CBI.They say that IGP Verma might arrest them because of a personal grudge.
Recently the HC gave full-fledged powers to Verma to probe the case after Karnail Singh, who was the SIT chief, opted out of the team.
The police officers who have moved court are IPS officer GL Singhal, deputy superintendents of police Tarun Barot, J G Parmar, police inspectors D H Goswami, C J Goswami and other lower-rung officials like Nizamuddin Saiyyad.
After the Bench of justice Jayant Patel and justice Abhilasha Kumari’s empowered Verma, these cops claimed that Verma would act in vindictive manner, as he had already made up his mind. They said that the court should restrain him from further action till the new SIT chairman is appointed.
The 14 policemen have requested the court to either hand over the probe to CBI or to induct all officers from outside Gujarat in its SIT. They do not trust Gujarat-cadre officials any more. These suspects have claimed that they would fall victim to internal rivalry among top Gujarat cops. They accused Verma of acting against them at the behest of senior cops, who hold a grudge against the state government. "The fact of there being serious groupism and in-fighting amongst senior police officers is not only known but also acknowledged," the application reads.
They fear that Verma, who has been given freedom to appoint an officer of his own choice for assistance, would even select an officer with a bias and against them.