Ishrat killing: Six witnesses retract,SIT in a fix

SIT sources said that along with the two policemen,who had earlier expressed grievances against SIT member Satish Verma to the court,four private security guards have retracted from their statements.

The SIT,headed by IPS officer Satyapal Singh is scheduled to present its latest action taken report to a High Court Divisional Bench comprising justices Jayant Patel and Abilasha Kumari.

The four security guards,including their manager Kamlesh were on duty at the Vasad toll post on June 15,2004 as per their statements recorded by IPS officer Satish Verma and Inspector J P Gadhvi. They had said that a Gujarat Police team had intercepted a blue-coloured car and taken Ishrat and her friend Javed Sheikh to Ahmedabad. The SIT team had recorded the statements of 25 people who were present at the Vasad toll post that day. The four have now retracted from their previous statements.

Shiv Singh,who at the time of the encounter,was an armed guard with ATS DySP N K Amin,had earlier said that he and Amin drove to Vasad toll post in a golden-coloured Indica car and that Inspector Tarun Barot had followed them in his official vehicle. Singh had further said that an ATS team had picked up Ishrat and Javed from the toll post.

Policeman Moti Desai had stated that Ishrat and Javed were kept at Arham,a farmhouse in Ahmedabad,prior to the encounter,where he was deployed as a guard. Both policemen have now said that they gave their previous statements under pressure from Verma.