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Journalism of Courage
Apparently unhappy over the way he was treated by the state government,Girish Singhal,the first police officer from Gujarat to be arrested in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case,has sent a letter to the state government,saying he was resigning from the police service with immediate effect.
In his letter to Additional Chief Secretary,Home,S K Nanda,dated February 27,the 2001-batch IPS officer,said,I herewith tender my resignation from the Indian Police Service. Presently,I am holding the post of Superintendent of Police. I would like to share my pain and grief I deeply feel because the department and government failed to protect me as a policeman from victimisation.
Nanda confirmed that he has received the application of resignation. But the signature on it does not match his normal signature, he said. We will first verify the signature. Right now,he is in police remand,and once a police officer is in remand for 48 hours,he is deemed as suspended following which he cannot avail any post-retirement benefits nor will his resignation matter. Sources said the handwritten letter was received by the state Home Department on Saturday.
Singhal,who was posted as Superintendent of Police at the State Crime Records Bureau,was arrested by the CBI on February 21. He was assistant commissioner of police,Detection of Crime Branch,Ahmedabad,when the alleged encounter took place in 2004. Currently,Singhal is in six-day CBI custody.
Following Singhals arrest,CBI arrested four more police officers retired DSP J G Parmar,Mehsana Deputy SP Tarun Barot,Special Operations Group Inspector Bharat Patel and commando with State Reserve Police Force Anaju Chaudhary.
Nineteen-year-old Ishrat,from Mumbai,Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai,and two alleged Pakistani nationals Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter on June 15,2004.
