Ishrat friend’s father: It was cold-blooded murder

Even after 16 years since the death of Ishrat Jahan and three others, many questions remain unanswered, and Gopinathan Pillai, the father of Pranesh Kumar, alias Javed Gulam Sheikh, who was found murdered along with her, does not trust David Headley.

Rejecting reports of the terrorist’s deposition in the Mumbai Tada court that she was a suicide bomber of the LeT, he said he still believed it was a cold-blooded murder carried out by DIG D.G. Vanzara. “I believe the encounter was staged with the consent of then chief minister Narendra Modi. The Gujarat government is still trying to delay the case, and that shows the BJP’s interest,” he told this newspaper.

“I had gone to Gujarat on March 15, 2013, for the hearing and my advocate Mukul Sinha was positive. I watch channels and read papers to track the case,” he said. Mr Pillai, a regular visitor to Durga temple, believes the conspiracy was hatched by Mr Vanzara’s team to please Mr Modi.

Mr Vanzara later went to jail for his involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing.

Mr Pillai’s doubts propped up as the Gujarat police came out with a claim that his son was in Pakistan for two weeks just before he was killed.

He saw his son for the last time on June 5, 2004.

“Pranesh and his wife Sajida had come in their newly bought Tata Indica with two kids to stay a few days and take his elder son back after a summer vacation with grandfather,” he says.

After they drove off, Mr Pillai remembers getting calls from his son at regular intervals along their journey.

“He called me when they reached Coimbatore, then from Bangalore and Ahmed Nagar. He told me he wanted to go Gujarat to get some papers cleared that had been agreed by Mr Vanzara,” he said.

“That was the last call. I never heard from my son after that. After three days he was killed. If they were terrorists, why did police keep them in custody for three days. They should have produced them in court instead of finishing them off.”

Mr Pillai, who had undergone a bypass surgery a decade ago, says Ms Jahan’s father was working with his son’s company as an electrician. Following the death of her father, he was taking her responsibility.

He knew about the relationship only after the incident.

He says the first twist to the case was when Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad, S. P. Tamang, found on September 7, 2009, that the shootout was fake.

“Such kind of wrong messages has nothing to do with my life, but my grandchildren, who have a future, should not be treated as children of a terrorist. I have bought three flats for each one after selling off my 2.5 acres of land in Thamarakulam. They have to live with pride even after my death,” he says.

“My ultimate ambition is to hear that my son is declared innocent. I am waiting for that. I still believe I could hear that news soon, before the final call from the Almighty.”