New Delhi, 18 June 2004

The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo-motu cognizance based on a media report of the killing of Ishrat, a young woman and three young men on 16 June 2004 while allegedly on a mission to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi by Ahmedabad's Crime Branch.
It has directed the Director General of Police, Gujarat and the SSP, Ahmedabad, Gujarat to take appropriate action with regard to the investigation of the case as per guidelines laid down by the Commission in the letters dated 29 March 1997 and 2 December 2003 of the Chairperson, NHRC to the Chief Ministers of all States. The action taken according to the above guidelines and the final outcome has to be reported to the Commission within six weeks.
The news item captioned "Innocent blood on Gujarat cops' hands? Thane Police Gives Ishrat Clean Chit" appeared in a national daily on 18 June 2004. The story said that Ishrat's background came out clean on Thursday, when police in Thane, Maharashtra ran a check.
The report further disclosed that police in Ahmedabad who have acquired a reputation of shooting first, asking questions later aren't willing to absolve anyone, even though they have yet to come up with plausible explanations of exactly how the four were planning to kill Modi.
NHRC Chairperson, Dr. Justice A.S. Anand observed if the contents of the newspaper report are true, it raises serious issues of violation of human rights.
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