‘Now,I can live without stigma’

Pillai,now living in Thamarakkulam in Alappuzha district,had joined Jahan’s mother in fighting the case in the Supreme Court. “I have spent a lot of money on the case. Taking regular flights between Kochi and Ahmedabad to depose before the investigators cost a lot of money. Finally,the truth has come out,giving us relief,” he said.

Pillai said the family is in touch with Javed’s widow Sajida and her three children — two sons and a daughter,all aged below 15. They visit Pillai’s family every year. Pillai,who had worked in a private firm in Pune for seven years,had sold his two-and-a-half acre rubber plantation to rehabilitate Javed’s family.

“I had bought three flats for the family in Pune. Sajida and her children are living in one flat and the other two were given on rent. She had quit her job in a junior school to teach 20-odd students at home,” he said.

He recalled that Javed had come on leave from Dubai,where he worked as an electrician,a month before the incident. “After returning from Dubai,he drove from Pune to Alappuzha with his family. We wanted to meet his youngest son Moosa,then one-year-old. Hence,they came all the way from Pune. On their way back to Pune,Javed and family went to meet Jahan’s elder sister. After dropping his family at a relative’s house in Ahmednagar,Javed went to repair a damaged tyre. He did not return. Five days later came the shattering news,said Pillai.

When The Indian Express approached Javed’s family at Adhitansh Apartment in Kondhwa,Pune,a family member,who opened the door,said,“We don’t want to speak now.”

Sajida shifted to this house after Javed’s death. They were earlier staying at Kalas housing society on Alandi road.

For several years,say the police,Gopinath,who came to Pune in search of a job,lived at suburban Tingarenagar area of Pune. Hameed Inamdar,Sajida’s brother,lived nearby,and in 1990,Pranesh and Sajida fell in love. Her family refused to allow Sajida to marry a Hindu and finally,in 1991,Pranesh converted to Islam and became Javed. They got married in 1994.

Ishrat Jahan Raza

The 19-year-old college girl from Mumbai was brought up at Rashid Compound in Mumbra with her seven siblings. Ishrat’s father Shamim Raza owned a construction company in Mumbai but he died early when Ishrat’s youngest sibling was only four. Ishrat was the sole bread-winner for the family. At the time of her killing,she was in the first year of bachelor’s of science course at Guru Nanak Khalsa College,Kings Circle. She gave tuitions to earn a living. In the summer of 2004,when tuitions did not come by,she joined Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh in Pune as an accountant. She worked both at his travel agency and perfume shop there. She had gone missing from Nasik on June 11 when Javed had come to take her to Pune. On June 15,she was found dead in a blue Tata Indica car on the outskirts of Ahmedabad along with three others,including Javed.

Pranesh Pillai alias
Javed Gulam Sheikh

Javed had migrated to Mumbai in search of work but is believed to have got into criminal activities. He had converted to Islam in the mid-90s to marry Sajida. The Mumbai and Gujarat Police found two passports from Javed,including the one he obtained using his original name Pranesh after he converted. He was picked up in four assault cases in Mumbai and Pune,besides one for his involvement in a fake currency racket. He had taken Ishrat to Nasik,Bangalore and Lucknow,where he is believed to have met Amjad who introduced him to Zeeshan Johar.

Amjad Ali Rana alias Akbar
Ali Rana alias Salim

He was labelled as a Lashkar terrorist from Haveli Diwan in Pakistan. In the encounter,he was found dead with a AK-56 rifle near his body. It is believed Rana and Javed met in Oman several times where the latter used to go often. Rana is also believed to have met Ishrat and Javed in Ibrahimpur once.

Zeeshan Johar alias Abdul Ghani Son of Kalu alias Janbaaz

Zeeshan and Amzad Ali were caught in a trespassing case in Srinagar in 2003. The Kashmir Police reportedly has the records of their arrest. The police had found fake identity cards on their bodies that were reportedly made in Udhampur. After the encounter,no one claimed their bodies.