Retired IPS officer DG Vanzara wants promotions for all encounter-accused cops of Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Retired IPS officer D G Vanzara, an accused in Ishrat Jahan and Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter cases, has demanded promotion for himself and 15 co-accused police officers, on the lines of decision taken by Rajasthan government.

In a letter written to the Gujarat government, Vanzara has also objected to the promotion of IPS officer Geetha Johri, who was discharged from the case recently, saying it was "outrightly unlawful and hasty". He has threatened that all the politicians and police officers who were discharged in the encounter cases "will not be allowed to go scot-free if other accused are not given they due".

"All these (16) reinstated officers and policemen have become overdue for more than one promotions. Their promotions are kept in abeyance...," says his letter to the additional chief secretary G R Aloria.

"The police officers and men have applied...for promotion on parity with co-accused police officer Dinesh M N who has been given three promotions at one go by the government of Rajasthan," he said.

"The government action of denying promotion to P P Pandey and others (Pandey is an accused in Ishrat Jahan case, now on bail) is not only unlawful, illegal, irrational...but it is also whimsical, capricious and oppressive in nature which is not inspired by any standard legal norms but guided by some extraneous and irrelevant political considerations," he adds.

In the case of Johri, Vanzara admits that she has been discharged, but "before promoting her, the government of Gujarat would have verified from CBI whether it was (going) to challenge the discharge order in Bomaby High Court."

"...she has been wrongly promoted by deviating from the standard procedure to save the skin of all the accused persons who are discharged from the case by CBI court, especially that of (BJP chief) Amitbhai Shah and P C Pandey (another police officer, accused in Sohrabuddin case)," it says.

"It was Johri in league with Pandey and Amit Shah who created sorry state of affairs for Gujarat police in general and accused police officers and men in particular," Vanzara alleges.