D. G. Vanzara

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Dahyaji Gobarji Vanzara is a former Inspector-General of Police (IG) of Gujarat, India. He was in judicial custody from 2007 until his bail in 2015 on charges of having conducted a series of extrajudicial killings, [1] while heading the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). [2] He was discharged in the Sohrabuddin case in 2017. [3]

Vanzara joined the Gujarat Police as DSP in 1980, was promoted to IPS officer in 1987, and retired on 31 May 2014 as Deputy IG. After being cleared in fake encounter cases in February 2020, he received a post-retirement promotion to IG, effective from 29 September 2007.

Cases

An IPS officer of the 1987 batch, his tenure saw a spurt in encounter killings, including:

As of September 2013, 32 officers—including six IPS officers—were jailed for these encounters. [6]

In 2013, Vanzara stated: [7]

The CID/CBI arrested my officers and me for allegedly fake encounters. If that is true, then the CBI investigating officers for all cases should also be arrested, as we, the field officers, simply implemented government policy.

Former DSP N. K. Amin testified in 2008 of a police-politician-criminal nexus in the Sohrabuddin case. [8] High-level communications from Amit Shah to on-duty officers were questioned in court. [9]

In the Prajapati case, the encounter occurred in Banaskantha district shortly after Vanzara’s transfer there. Shah could not recall the reason for the transfer. [10] Shah was later indicted as the "kingpin and prime accused" in the Prajapati case. [11]

Vanzara was released on bail on February 18, 2015. [12] He was acquitted in the Sohrabuddin case in August 2017 due to lack of evidence. [13]

References

  1. ↑ Subhash Gatade (September 21, 2013). "Modi's 'Vanzara' Moment: Encounter Killings as State Policy". Mainstream.
  2. ↑ "Who is DG Vanzara?". NDTV. August 2, 2010.
  3. ↑ "DG Vanzara discharged: Former Gujarat cop cleared in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case due to lack of evidence". Firstpost. 2017-08-02. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02.
  4. ↑ "Tehelka – the People's Paper". Archived from the original on 2013-07-10. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  5. ↑ Ashish Khetan and Harinder Baweja (May 12, 2007). "Death by Firing Squad". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11.
  6. ↑ "Excerpts from Vanzara's letter: Modi was my god". The Indian Express. September 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ Sarfaraz Shaikh (February 18, 2015). "Ache din are back: Vanzara after release". The Times of India.
  8. ↑ Lyla Bavadam (October 8, 2010). "Dreaded group". Frontline.
  9. ↑ "If police control and command were not violated, Amit Shah would not be in this mess". Rediff. July 23, 2010.
  10. ↑ Vinay Kumar (January 10, 2012). "CBI to question Amit Shah again in Prajapati case". The Hindu.
  11. ↑ "Tulsiram Prajapati encounter: CBI names Amit Shah as kingpin". The Indian Express. September 18, 2012.
  12. ↑ Shaikh, Sarfaraz (2015-02-17). "Ache din are back: Vanzara after release". The Times of India. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  13. ↑ "DG Vanzara discharged: Former Gujarat cop cleared in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case due to lack of evidence". Firstpost. 2017-08-02. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02.
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