Someone tried to use me as pawn, says IB ex-official

Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) special director Rajinder Kumar on Thursday claimed that “someone” tried to use him as a “pawn” by dragging his name in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case to “subvert democracy”.

“I am not a victim of a witchhunt by the CBI. Somebody attempted to use me as a pawn to subvert democracy in the country. They tried to use me as a pawn. They failed. I did not become their pawn,” Mr Kumar told PTI when asked whether the CBI carried out a witch hunt by making him accused in the alleged fake encounter.

When asked about his comments on the testimony of LeT terrorist David Headley before a Mumbai court where he termed Ishrat Jahan as LeT member, Mr Kumar said he would speak on the issue after a day or two.

Headley told the court that Lakhvi had mentioned to him about a “botched-up operation” conducted in India by another LeT operative Muzammil Butt where a female member of the terror outfit was killed.

The CBI had filed the chargesheet against Mr Kumar and three other IB officers despite the law ministry’s denial of sanction to prosecute them.

Besides Mr Kumar, a 1979 batch IPS officer who retired last year, those named in the chargesheet are P. Mittal, M.K. Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede.

In the supplementary chargesheet, Mr Kumar has been charged under Sections 302 (murder), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 364 (kidnapping in order to murder), 346, 364 and 368 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Sections 3, 25(A) and 29 of the Arms Act.

The CBI has alleged the IB officers had conspired to eliminate the victims, kidnapped them and held them in illegal confinement before the killings.

It said Mr Kumar had supplied arms and ammunition used in the crime to another accused IPS officer Girish Singhal to be handed over to deputy SP Tarun Barot.

Ishrat, 19, Javed Shaikh, alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an alleged fake encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.