In a statement that could have political repercussions, American-Pakistani terrorist David Coleman Headley told a special court hearing the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack case on Thursday that Ishrat Jahan was a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative.
Headley said the 26/11 mastermind and chief operational commander of the LeT, Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, told him that LeT handler Muzzamil Butt was part of a botched up operation in India and that the only thing he could recall was that a woman was killed in a shootout.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam gave him three names — Noorjahan Begum, Ishrat Jahan and Mumtaz. Headley then said it was Ishrat Jahan.
However, he also said he knew nothing about suicide bombers in the LeT and he couldn’t name any. “I think Ishrat Jahan was an Indian national, not a Pakistani, and was an LeT operative,” he said.
Nineteen-year-old Ishrat Jahan of Mumbai was killed by the Gujarat police in an alleged fake encounter near Ahmedabad in June 2004. Javed Ghulam Sheikh, Zeeshan Johar and Ajmad Ali Akbar Ali Rana were also shot dead along with her. Zeeshan and Amjad were Pakistani nationals.
Continuing his deposition via video conferencing, Headley said LeT handler Muzzamil Butt had planned the Akshardham temple attack in Gujarat in 2002. Butt told him that after Indians demolished the Babri Masjid, it was “allowed” for them to attack Indian temples.
Ishrat Jahan case: timeline
›
June 15, 2004:
Ishrat Jahan and three others killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Police claim they were Lashkar members planning to kill Narendra Modi.
›
September 2009:
Ahmedabad judge S.P. Tamang terms encounter ‘fake’. Mr. Tamang's report said the Crime Branch police "kidnapped" Ishrat and the others from Mumbai on June 12, 2004 and brought them to Ahmedabad. The four were killed on the night of June 14 in police custody, but the police claimed that an "encounter" took place the next morning on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. That rigor mortis set in between 11 p.m. and midnight the previous night clearly pointed to the fact that the police pumped bullets into Ishrat's lifeless body to substantiate the encounter theory.
›
September 2010:
The Gujarat High Court constituted a new three-member Special Investigation Team for a fresh probe into the alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan in 2004.
›
January 28, 2011:
SIT member Satish Varma files affidavit stating it was a ‘fake’ encounter.
›
›
November 2011:
SIT tells court the encounter was staged
›
December 2011:
High Court orders CBI probe.
›
July 2013:
The CBI’s first charge sheet in the encounter case stated that the unlawful killing was a joint operation of the Gujarat police and the Intelligence Bureau and named seven Gujarat police officials as the accused.
›
July 2013:
CBI court grants P.P.Pandey (an accused in the case) anticipatory bail for 48 hours after a hearing that lasted for over four hours.
›
August 2013:
SC denies senior bail to Pandey.
›
October 2013:
CBI quizzes BJP leader Amit Shah in connection with ‘fake’ encounters. Jailed IPS officer D.G. Vanzara who was later held in the Ishrat Jahan case, had alleged in his resignation letter that the government closely monitored every police action involving ‘terrorists’ during his tenure.
›
March 2014:
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court here issued notices to Amit Shah in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
›
May 2014:
A Gujarat CBI court dismissed a plea seeking arraignment of Amit Shah and ex-police commissioner of Ahmedabad K.R. Kaushik as accused in the case. The plea was filed by Gopinath Pillai, father of Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh who was among the four victims.
›
May 2014:
CBI gives a clean chit to Amit Shah. “There is no sufficient evidence against him. Hence CBI has not chargesheeted him,” CBI PI Vishwas Kumar Meena said in an affidavit filed before the special CBI court in Ahmedabad.
February 2015:
Gujarat revokes suspension of P.P.Pandey.
February 2015:
DG Vanzara walks out of the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad eight years after he was jailed in connection with a series of encounter cases in Gujarat.
Headley said the 26/11 mastermind and chief operational commander of the LeT, Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, told him that LeT handler Muzzamil Butt was part of a botched up operation in India and that the only thing he could recall was that a woman was killed in a shootout.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam gave him three names — Noorjahan Begum, Ishrat Jahan and Mumtaz. Headley then said it was Ishrat Jahan.
However, he also said he knew nothing about suicide bombers in the LeT and he couldn’t name any. “I think Ishrat Jahan was an Indian national, not a Pakistani, and was an LeT operative,” he said.
Nineteen-year-old Ishrat Jahan of Mumbai was killed by the Gujarat police in an alleged fake encounter near Ahmedabad in June 2004. Javed Ghulam Sheikh, Zeeshan Johar and Ajmad Ali Akbar Ali Rana were also shot dead along with her. Zeeshan and Amjad were Pakistani nationals.
Continuing his deposition via video conferencing, Headley said LeT handler Muzzamil Butt had planned the Akshardham temple attack in Gujarat in 2002. Butt told him that after Indians demolished the Babri Masjid, it was “allowed” for them to attack Indian temples.
Ishrat Jahan case: timeline
›
June 15, 2004:
Ishrat Jahan and three others killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Police claim they were Lashkar members planning to kill Narendra Modi.
›
September 2009:
Ahmedabad judge S.P. Tamang terms encounter ‘fake’. Mr. Tamang's report said the Crime Branch police "kidnapped" Ishrat and the others from Mumbai on June 12, 2004 and brought them to Ahmedabad. The four were killed on the night of June 14 in police custody, but the police claimed that an "encounter" took place the next morning on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. That rigor mortis set in between 11 p.m. and midnight the previous night clearly pointed to the fact that the police pumped bullets into Ishrat's lifeless body to substantiate the encounter theory.
›
September 2010:
The Gujarat High Court constituted a new three-member Special Investigation Team for a fresh probe into the alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan in 2004.
›
January 28, 2011:
SIT member Satish Varma files affidavit stating it was a ‘fake’ encounter.
›
›
November 2011:
SIT tells court the encounter was staged
›
December 2011:
High Court orders CBI probe.
›
July 2013:
The CBI’s first charge sheet in the encounter case stated that the unlawful killing was a joint operation of the Gujarat police and the Intelligence Bureau and named seven Gujarat police officials as the accused.
›
July 2013:
CBI court grants P.P.Pandey (an accused in the case) anticipatory bail for 48 hours after a hearing that lasted for over four hours.
›
August 2013:
SC denies senior bail to Pandey.
›
October 2013:
CBI quizzes BJP leader Amit Shah in connection with ‘fake’ encounters. Jailed IPS officer D.G. Vanzara who was later held in the Ishrat Jahan case, had alleged in his resignation letter that the government closely monitored every police action involving ‘terrorists’ during his tenure.
›
March 2014:
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court here issued notices to Amit Shah in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
›
May 2014:
A Gujarat CBI court dismissed a plea seeking arraignment of Amit Shah and ex-police commissioner of Ahmedabad K.R. Kaushik as accused in the case. The plea was filed by Gopinath Pillai, father of Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh who was among the four victims.
›
May 2014:
CBI gives a clean chit to Amit Shah. “There is no sufficient evidence against him. Hence CBI has not chargesheeted him,” CBI PI Vishwas Kumar Meena said in an affidavit filed before the special CBI court in Ahmedabad.
February 2015:
Gujarat revokes suspension of P.P.Pandey.
February 2015:
DG Vanzara walks out of the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad eight years after he was jailed in connection with a series of encounter cases in Gujarat.
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