Javed’s family waits for justice, wants to know complete facts

On Thursday as the CBI arrested a police officer in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case, Sajida, whose husband Javed Gulam Shaikh was killed in the same encounter, said that the case was still shrouded in mystery. "The details of what exactly happened on that day are very sketchy. Pieces of information have been coming in every now and then from different people. Don't you think it is my right to know what exactly happened with him? Why was he killed?" Sajida asked.

The police have since arrested three more police officers.

Javed alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai was originally from Kerala and converted to Islam in 1991 to marry Sajida. He was killed on June 15, 2004 along with Ishrat in the alleged fake encounter. Sajida (37), who remarried, now lives with her husband Asif and four children in Kondhwa. Asif owns a transport business.

In Kerala, Javed's father Gopinathan Pillai said, "I have full faith in the court, which has entrusted the probe to the CBI. The arrest of G L Singhal shows that we are not far away from justice." Pillai, a native of Alappuzha, said that he wanted to erase the stigma of being the father of a terrorist. "Even my close relatives boycotted me after the incident. Now, their attitude is slowly changing."

Pillai, a small-scale farmer, sold his 2.5 acres of land to buy three flats for his three grandchildren who are living with their mother Sajida in Pune. "Purchasing the flats and fight for justice made me bankrupt. Delayed justice would give me much relief," said Pillai. "My father-in-law (Pillai) has decided to fight for justice, I want to actively support him, but realise that it would be very difficult to do it on my own. We had to struggle a lot to bring our lives back to normal," Sajida said, adding that about 10 days ago she was called by the CBI to their Mumbai office. "They asked some questions."

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