Sadiq was not a trained militant: CBI

Ahmedabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that Sadiq Jamal Mehtar, who was killed in a police encounter in 2003, was not a "trained militant".
The CBI stated this in rebuttal to allegations levelled by one of the accused cops, retired DySP K M Waghela, who was seeking discharge from the case. Along with seven other officials, who were then posted with the city crime branch, Waghela has been charged with murder, conspiracy, illegal detention, abduction etc.
According to advocate Shamshad Pathan, who represents Sadiq's brother Shabbir Jamal, this is the first time that the probe agency has emphatically refuted Gujarat police's allegations that Sadiq was a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and had come to Ahmedabad to kill then chief minister Narendra Modi in order to avenge the 2002 riots.
Beside denying the allegations that Sadiq was a terrorist, the CBI has opposed the discharge application and asserted that whether Waghela was involved in the conspiracy to kill the Bhavnagar youth would be established in a trial only. It maintained that Sadiq was killed in cold blood by crime branch officials.
The reply filed by the CBI further stated that apart from police officials from Ahmedabad crime branch, cops from Maharashtra were also involved in this case. The probe agency told the special court that Sadiq was taken into illegal custody by Maharashtra cops on December 18, 2002 in Mumbai. He was then brought to Ahmedabad by crime branch officials including Tarun Barot on January 3, 2003.
The CBI court is to hear this case further on July 14.
According to crime branch, Sadiq fired from a country-made gun and the police party had to open fire in self defence. Investigations later revealed that Sadiq was a domestic help for a Dawood Ibrahim aide in Dubai, where he quarrelled with Salim Chiplun, another D-gang member. Earlier, there were attempts to project him as a bicycle thief. He was facing gambling charges in Bhavnagar.