Like Pragya, state's encounter cops must get clean chit: Vanzara

Ahmedabad: After the National Investigation Agency (NIA) dropped charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon serial blast case, retired IPS officer D G Vanzara on Friday took to Twitter to intensify his demand for discharge of Gujarat cops booked in different encounter cases.
Vanzara claimed police officers were "framed maliciously".
"Sadhvi Pragya got clean chit from NIA, now it's time, CBI should seek clean chit for Gujarat Police Officers who were framed maliciously (sic)," Vanzara tweeted.
Vanzara himself is accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Ishrat Jahan fake encounter cases. However, his concern for justice did not stop with the demand for freedom for accused cops.
For the first time, he pitched for the release of his spiritual guru, Asaram Bapu, who is in jail on charges of raping a minor girl.
"Great Saints like Morari Bapu, Pramukh Swami & Sri Sri R shud take legal & public stand against fabricated cases #Satyagrah4BapujiRelease (sic)," he tweeted.
Vanzara is currently out on bail. He was first arrested in April 2007 in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case along with two other IPS officers, by Gujarat's CID (crime). Later, he was also made an accused in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.
On Friday, he told ToI that after Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Gujarat police officers booked "maliciously" in encounter cases by agencies ranging from Gujarat CID (crime) to CBI, should also be given a clean chit. The encounters for which they were arrested were real and not fake, Vanzara said.
When asked about his support for Asaram, Vanzara said, "I have used the words 'legal' and 'public stand' in my tweet. The word legal is very important. Until charges are proved against the accused, the accused is innocent," Vanzara said.
He further said that in the Asaram case, Morari Bapu, Pramukh Swami and Sri Sri Ravishankar should take the stand that the accused is innocent.
"He (Asaram) is 80 years old and he should not languish in jail. What I have stated is that these saints can, at least, take a legal stand," Vanzara said.
The former police officer told TOI that there is a Supreme Court judgment which says that bail is the rule and jail an exception.
"He (Asaram) should be released as per the law of the land. He should be given bail. Of course, there are charges against him; so as per the law charges are to be faced and trial is going on," said Vanzara.