Ishrat Jahan case: Gujarat officer came to us with own draft,more names,we said no,says CBI

Verma was said to have prepared a draft charge-sheet which differed with the line that the CBI took.

The CBI and Gujarat IPS officer Satish Verma,who were partners in the probe into the Ishrat Jahan encounter case,parted on a bitter note when the agency refused to accept Vermas version of the chargesheet in the case.

Verma was said to have prepared a draft charge-sheet which differed with the line that the CBI took. It is learnt that the CBI did not accept the draft he brought at the eleventh hour to introduce more names in the chargesheet.

A CBI officer said the agency found no evidence to support Vermas claims which it suspected had more to do with personal vendetta.

According to the officer,Verma did not share his own draft with the agency till the date of the filing of the chargesheet it was filed on July 3. It is unfortunate that an officer who probed the case in the right direction came up with a separate analysis on his own and put pressure on investigators to accept his draft as the chargesheet. The CBI had already prepared its chargesheet,naming eight key accused in the case,which was approved by the CBI Director, the officer said.

According to the special investigation team of CBI probing the case,Verma stormed into the CBI office in Block No. 16 of Gandhinagar on July 3 and said his draft should be accepted as the final chargesheet in the case. There was a heated argument between Verma and CBI officers and it delayed filing of the chargesheet by a couple of hours.

It is learnt that Verma complained to the Joint Director of the CBI. But senior CBI officers were of the view that his conclusion was not based on evidence and facts.

His assistance was tremendous and we have accepted all the findings of the SIT and those during his term with the CBI in our chargesheet. But the few names that he wanted prosecuted hold no water since the allegations were baseless, the CBI officer said.

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When his comments were sought,Verma said: There were things that happened between me and the CBI that were purely confidential and I would not like to comment on that. I left the team on June 23,so there is no question of any draft. I have not seen the chargesheet that they have filed.

Verma is currently posted as principal of the Police Training College in Junagadh,a posting that he has challenged in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) saying it was part of a plan to harass him.