[Reader-list] Ishrat's father-in-law contests Headley's claim

[Javed]

"My lawyer has told me that media reports of Headley claiming that
Ishrat was a member of the terror squad need not be taken as truth and
they formed part of a design to weaken my case".....


Ishrat's father-in-law contests Headley's claim
PTI, Jul 7, 2010, 05.29pm IST

ALAPPUZHA (Kerala): Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley's reported
claim that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an encounter with police in Gujarat
in 2004, was a suicide bomber of the terror outfit has been contested
by the father of the man killed along with her.

Gopinatha Pillai said today that the Pakistani-American's reported
claim made to National Investigative Agency (NIA) personnel about
19-year-old Ishrat during his questioning in the US was an attempt to
derail his struggle to bring to light the "whole truth" about the
controversial encounter. Headley has confessed to his involvement in
the Mumbai terror attack and is presently in custody in Chicago.

"This can only be seen as an attempt to create a smoke-screen when the
hearing on the petition filed by me in Gujarat court seeking justice
is slated to begin this month", Pillai, who is in his 70s, told PTI
from his home at Charumood in Alappuzha district. Pillai had worked in
the military service.

Pillai's son Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar and Ishrat along with
two Pakistanis were killed in the encounter on June 15, 2004. Gujarat
police has claimed that Javed and Ishrat were part of a suicide squad
on its way to eliminate Chief Minister Narendra Modi to avenge the
'massacre' of Muslims.

"My lawyer has told me that media reports of Headley claiming that
Ishrat was a member of the terror squad need not be taken as truth and
they formed part of a design to weaken my case", Pillai said.

Pillai said Ishrat and his son had visited his Kerala home some time
before they were killed and he was certain she was not the type of
person to have terrorist links.

He said he had no reason to deviate from his earlier stand that his
son or Ishrat were innocent and that he would continue his struggle
for justice.

Pranesh married a Muslim woman while living in Pune after which he
converted to Islam and changed his name to Javed Sheikh.

Pillai has been maintaining that his son and Ishrat were killed in a
fake encounter staged by the Gujarat police.

Yesterday, the BJP said the "important disclosure" by Headley about
Ishrat made it incumbent on the central government to admit or deny
the existence of this position.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ishrats-father-in-law-contests-Headleys-claim/articleshow/6139264.cms