Gujarat Govt Promotes IPS G L Singhal, Key Accused in Ishrat Jahan Encounter Case, to IGP Rank
Along with him, the state government also promoted five other senior IPS officers.
Gandhinagar, January 1: The Gujarat state government on Tuesday gave promotion to IPS officer G L Singhal to the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP). Singhal is one of the key accused in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case and is currently on bail. Along with five other IPS officers and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officers of 2001 batch, Singhal’s name features in the newly prepared list.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested six people in 2013 in connection with the Ishrat Jahan Case and Singhal was named as the key accused. Since the central probing agency failed to file chargesheet in the stipulated time, Singhal was granted default bail and reinstated with promotion as Deputy Inspector General in 2014. Ishrat Jahan Case: Petitioner in Ahmedabad Fake Shootout Case Dies in Road Accident, Probe Begins.
Earlier, during the probe, Singhal gave evidences to the CBI which constituted two pen drives containing 267 voice recordings, suggesting the illegal surveillance of woman under the orders of the minister of state for home Amit Shah, now BJP president. That time he had stated that he acted at the behest of a ‘saheb’, allegedly Amit Shah.
Not only Singhal, other promoted IPS officers too have been involved in controversial cases. Currently posted in Ahmedabad as additional commissioner of police (administration), Vipul Aggarwal has been promoted to IGP and he was involved in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, which was discharged later. Last month, a special CBI court in Mumbai acquitted all the accused.
Among the other senior official to have been promoted include Ahmedabad additional commissioner of police (Traffic) J R Mothaliya, who is a part of Supreme Court appointed-Special Investigation Team which probed the 2002 post-Godhra riots. MA Chawda, Gandhinagar Range IG and Additional commissioner of police for sector-2, in Surat city D N Patel have also been promoted. Even Surat police commissioner Satish Sharma has been promoted to the rank of Director General of Police.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 01, 2019 03:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).