Mumbai: The family of Ishrat Jahan, who was allegedly killed by Gujarat Police in a fake encounter in 2004, has claimed that their lives are under threat and have sought protection from the central government.
Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday, Ishrat’s sister Nusrat said: “At around 2.30am today [Thursday], some four to five men, claiming to be from the police, banged on our door and asked us to open. When we asked them six to seven times as to what they wanted, they told us they wanted to ask certain questions.”
She added: “You tell me, is it written in any law that police can come knocking at your door at 2.30 am in the night and force you to open the door. They are trying to frighten us in every way possible.”
Ishrat’s uncle, Rauf Lala, said he called up certain officials who told him that no team from Mumbra police station, Thane district, had gone to Ishrat’s house.
Family members said they were being threatened and intimidated by unknown persons and were being followed whenever they stepped out of their homes. The uncle said only one policeman has been deputed for their security.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt said this was happening at a time “when we are inching towards what happened to Ishrat. We demand that the family gets protection. One policeman is not enough. We have to create a firewall for these brave people who are fighting for justice.”
Ishrat, a nineteen-year-old student, who lived in Mumbra, Thane district, with her family, was killed along with Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar in an alleged fake encounter with the Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the case has stated in its charge-sheet that the encounter was stage managed and booked seven officials of the Gujarat crime branch for the killings.
The CBI has described it as a joint operation by the Gujarat Police and Intelligence Bureau and said the role of its Special Director Rajinder Kumar and three other officers was still being investigated.
After the encounter, the state police had alleged that Ishrat and her associates were Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives involved in a plot to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
