Kausar Bi, a witness to her husband's killing, was held in captivity and reportedly abused in a farmhouse for two days; though there is no definitive word, investigations thus far tend to indicate that she was killed, her body burnt, and then disposed of in the river.
The preliminary investigations, lasted from September 2006 to January 2007, while Prajapati, the third victim, was killed in December 2006 in a joint encounter conducted by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police on the Gujarat border. Vanzara was involved in it as head of the Border Range police.
When the story first broke, Chief Minister Modi stood four square behind the police officer; as more and more details emerged about the cold-blooded killing, the Gujarat strongman dissociated himself from Vanzara and left him and his henchmen to face the music.
In March, the state government finally admitted in the Supreme Court that police officers had murdered 'terrorist' Sheikh and his wife, Kausar Bi.
The damage had been done by then; Modi's initial spirited defence of Vanzara tied the chief minister morally with the killings. Ironically, however, during the year-end election campaign in Gujarat, Modi used the same incident to his advantage, branding Sheikh as a dreaded terrorist, putting the AK-47 back in his hands, and asking the crowds how such people should be dealt with.
The chorus of 'Kill him' that has greeted such rhetorical flights mock the ongoing case in the Supreme Court.
Vanzara is currently in prison awaiting the outcome of the case; so too are Pandian, Dinesh Kumar, Inspector Dhabi and constables Santram Sharma and Ajay Parmar; the last named has admitted to procuring the motorcycle and riding it to set the stage.
Image: Vanzara and Pandian, left, at the magistrate's court in Ahmedabad on May 1.
Also read: 'Vanzara has ailing heart'
Email this Page | 
Write to us
Advertisement
