Ishrat Jahan
Ishrat JahanIANS File Photo

The Delhi Police on Sunday began a probe into the documents that had gone missing in the Ishrat Jahan murder case, with a complaint lodged by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at the Sansad Bhavan police station in this regard.

Based on the complaint lodged by the MHA under-secretary VK Upadhya, the police have also registered a case under Section 409 of the IPC, which pertains to criminal breach of trust. Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal told IANS: "We have filed an FIR in the Ishrat Jahan missing documents case and are planning for further proceedings."

The Ishrat Jahan case pertains to Ahmedabad police shooting down four people — including Ishrat Jahan — on June 15, 2004, on accusation that they were members of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Although it was initially claimed that the four people were killed in an encounter — exchange of gunfire with the police — it was later alleged that they were murdered as part of a pre-planned assault. 

Meanwhile, David Coleman Headley, who was one of the conspirators behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, later said Ishrat was indeed a terrorist, and part of a team that was looking to target Narendra Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2014. 

According to the police, an inquiry committee led by the MHA additional-secretary in March examined the Ishrat Jahan files in detail and it was found that around five documents — including two affidavits — were missing. The documents reportedly went missing from the North Block office of the MHA.

However, Narwal said that it was too early to determine how these papers went missing from the file, or if they were removed deliberately. "At this stage nothing can be said. We are probing the matter," he said.

(With IANS inputs)