22 encounters in Gujarat between 2002-06 rising curiosity after Vikas Dubey encounter

The dramatic killing of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey on early Friday morning definitely raised some pertinent questions after the Uttar Pradesh Police claimed he was shot dead in an alleged ‘encounter’ when he tried to escape. From the sequence of events that led to Vikas Dubey's killing, many questions are rising with regards to 22 encounters which had taken place in Gujarat between 2002 and 2006.

Ahmedabad: The killer of eight policemen in Kanpur massacre Vikas Dubey was killed the early morning of Friday in an encounter with the police. The police officially declared that Vikas had snatched a pistol and tried to escape when after the exchange of fire between him and the police which lasted for 15 minutes he was killed. Four policemen were also injured during the encounter. Following the dramatic killing of notorious gangster left many questions, which are raising now against several encounters of Gujarat between 2002 and 2006.

However, video footage and witness accounts have been emerging since then suspecting the encounter to be a “fake”, akin with the controversial Hyderabad encounter. Vikas Dubey’s encounter has once again raised questions on the 22 encounters that took place in Gujarat between 2002 and 2006 agitating the minds of the people if these encounters were genuine or fake.

As many as 22 encounters had taken place in Gujarat between 2002 and 2006 which were inquired into by Gujarat High Court and Supreme Court. A special committee was also constituted which submitted a report to the Supreme Court.

There were 22 encounters between 2002 and 2006.

There were accusations against the police that all the encounters were fake. The police said all those killed in encounters were terrorists. Police said that the terrorists had come to assassinate Narendra Modi or BJP leaders by exploding bombs in different areas of Gujarat. Following the incidents, former state home minister Amit Shah and six IPS officers including DG Vanjara and 32 police officers were sent to jail.

Here are some of the highlights of the 22 encounters in Gujarat:

• Soharabuddin, Kausar Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati were killed in the encounter.
• Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar were killed in the encounter.
• Ishrat Jahan and Sadiq Jamal were killed in the encounter.
• Kasam Jafar, Haji Ismail and Samir Khan too were killed in the encounter.
• Haji Ismail, a known smuggler of Jam Salaya, was killed in the encounter.
• During the tenure of Gujarat chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, notorious bootlegger Abdul Latif was killed in the encounter.

All the 22 encounters in Gujarat were widely discussed with allegations against BJP leaders. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi described Narendra Modi as ‘Merchant of Death’ and many political parties slammed the BJP government over 22 encounters. However, the BJP, under the leadership of Modi, had won a landslide victory in the elections held thereafter The issue of fake encounters had become widely discussed in the country. Retired justice H S Bedi has recently submitted his report on the alleged 22 fake encounters to the Supreme Court. The special court will pronounce the verdict regarding this.