Ishrat Jahan case: ‘Encounter bungalow’ goes to the dogs

Once a party joint,farmhouse quiet since Ishrat death; only caretakers live there with dogs.

It was once bustling with parties,a summer getaway for bureaucrats,politicians and police officers. Today,it is so lonely that it is said to have become haunted over the years since Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh were allegedly held captive here.

The Arham farmhouses most frequent visitor used to be encounter cop D G Vanzara. Among various versions about where Ishrat and Javed were killed,one is that they were shot dead at the farmhouse itself. This is according to a report by then Ahmedabad chief metropolitan magistrate S P Tamang.

The police declared having intercepted and shot Ishrat,Javed and two others at Kotarpur Waterworks,Ahmedabad. The CBIs version is that they had first been abducted. Its chargesheet says Ishrat and Javed were taken to Khodiyar farmhouse,while Amjad Ali was kept at Arham until the day he was killed.

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Standing by a road between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar,Arham,in Koba,is owned by Raju Jirawala,brother of a BJP corporator. A few domestic helps and some dogs,whose barks can be heard from outside,are its only occupants today.

Yes,this is the same farmhouse, says a caretaker,23,the farmhouses unofficial spokesperson. No one stays here but the dogs and I. If you come inside,the dogs will come after you. They are not used to strangers.

He adds,We have been told by sahib not to let anyone inside. I open the gate only for the colonel saheb who stays on the premises.

Colonel Saheb is actually a retired army major who four years ago built a second farmhouse on the same premises. He has been living there for 11 months now. A common gate serves as the entrance to the premises.

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Nobody visits the farmhouse now. I maintain it because its been our family property for years, says Jirawala. The Army officer and his family have been staying there for a year now,but we dont interact. He adds,I have not killed anyone. Those who killed should answer who were kept there.

Jirawala told the CBI in 2011 that the farmhouse had been used by Gujarat police to hold Kausar Bi and Ishrat Jahan captive,and that officers Vanzari and N K Amin were present when Ishrat was taken there. Jirawala was arrested by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case in 2010 and later released on bail by the Gujarat High Court. Jeerawala had given his farmhouse to Vanzaras team for five days in 2005 when Sohrabuddins wife Kausar Bi was allegedly held captive.

According to the CBI chargesheet,inspector J G Parmar arranged the farmhouse ahead of Ishrats killing,and police officers Vanzara,Rajinder Kumar (IB),Amin and G L Singhal met Amjad there.

At the bungalow built by Major Suri,the retired officer,the domestic help says,That farmhouse is dark,shut,unoccupied. The caretakers sometimes walk the dogs on the lawn. We have no contact with them.

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The board with Arham in red ink,removed after the house earned the reputation of being an encounter bungalow,is now back. Arham is a Jain spiritual term,the equivalent of Om.