In another letter bomb , Vanzara seeks his due, issues ‘threat’

[related-post]

The retired DIG has criticised politicians, saying they placed self-interest before that of the nation and treated policemen as “insects, mosquitoes and flies”. Vanzara writes, “When the politicians, to promote the personal political interests, are ready to sacrifice even the supreme interests of the country and its people, how can they be expected to look after the interests of policemen who, for them, are nothing more than insects, mosquitoes and flies.”

Vanzara writes “…Denying us of our lawful promotions will be an act of great provocation to us which may lead to some unknown consequences for all the parties concerned, which may not be to the liking of anybody of us.” Quoting Martin Luther King Jr, he wrote, “Peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of justice.”

Vanzara has sought promotion for officers, such as P P Pandey, Rajkumar Pandian, Abhay Chudasama, Vipul Aggarwal, G L Singhal, N K Amin, B R Chaubey, among others. According to sources, Pandian and Chaubey have also written letters to the government, seeking promotion. When contacted, Aloria told The Indian Express, “I am not aware of any such letter, but we do receive letters for promotion. Anyone can write anything, but it has to be dealt with in accordance with the law.”

Vanzara has alleged that by promoting officers, such as IPS Geetha Johri — by superseding ADGP P P Pandey, who is her senior — is but “deviating from the standard procedure to save the skin of all accused persons, who have been discharged from the case by the CBI court, especially Amit Shah (BJP chief) and PC Pande.” Vanzara writes, “Johri was in league with P C Pande and Amit Shah and created the sorry state of affairs for Gujarat police in general and accused police officers in particular”.

Shah, Pande (former DGP) and Johri were recently discharged in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. Johri was promoted to DGP rank recently by the state government. He has said that the promotion to Johri is “outright unlawful and hasty”. Vanzara has claimed that he knows chief minister Anandiben Patel “from very close quarters” and if she “exorcises her government and system from the evil influence of unlawful usurpers of her powers, she can definitely do justice to us and save the situation from drifting into the wrong directions.”

Vanzara writes, “Potentially, the trio — Amitbhai Shah, P C Pande and Geetha Johri — is very much accused in Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram encounter even today. The law is very clear. It says that even if they are discharged from the case by CBI court, and later on they may be even discharged by the High Court and the Supreme Court, even then, they can be again arrayed and called back as accused by the trial court and made to stand beside us to face the trial…” In the letter, he adds, “I can only ensure all the discharged accused politicians and police officers of Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram encounter case, that they will not be allowed to go scot-free, if they try to serve just their own interests at the cost of legitimate interests of remaining accused police officers and men who will be facing trial.” “Apart from stated officer, I, D G Vanzara, DIG retired, have also applied for my notional promotion to the rank of inspector general of police…,” the letter said. The copies of the letter have been marked to personal secretaries of Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, minister of state for home Rajnikant Patel and DGP P C Thakur.

After almost eight years in jail, Vanzara got bail in February this year, when he was already retired. Currently, Vanzara is staying in Bandra (Mumbai) as part of his bail conditions bars him from entering Gujarat. Vanzara cites the case of co-accused IPS officer Dinesh M N of Rajasthan cadre, who got double promotion after getting bail. From the rank of Superintendent of Police, he has been promoted to Inspector General of Police (IGP). Vanzara gives credit to the Vasundhara Raje government.

The letter says, “When nobody could dare to come in the way of Vasundhara Raje government in giving promotions to Rajasthan officers, who is coming in the way of Anandiben Patel government in giving similar promotions to Gujarat officers in the same case?”

In the letter Vanzara claims, “The courts have done justice to us. Rajasthan government is also doing quick justice to our co-accused brother officers. There is no valid reason why the government of Gujarat should lag behind and deny justice to us. Earlier, UPA government sitting at the Centre was blamed for all the problems of Gujarat police. At present, the BJP government with absolute majority is sitting at the Centre with a very strong leader presiding over it.”

In 2013, Vanzara had written another damning letter from the Sabarmati Jail, condemning Amit Shah. In that ten-page letter, Vanzara had written, “I used to adore Modi like a God. But I am sorry to state that my God could not rise to occasion under the evil influence of Amit Shah who usurped his eyes and ears and has been misguiding him.”