Father of Samir Khan Pathan, Sarfaraj Khan, has written a letter to activists and NGOs—including Teesta Setalvad and her advocate Sohel Tirmizi—asking them not to interfere in his son’s “encounter” case. Khan said he has been pursuing the case ever since his son’s death.

Pathan was killed in an encounter by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch. Setalvad had lodged a private complaint with the Ahmedabad metropolitan court, seeking CBI probe into the alleged encounter of Samir Khan Pathan. The complaint was lodged in the name of Samista Khan, Pathan’s cousin.

Activist Shabnam Hashmi and Javed Akhtar had also moved a petition in the Supreme Court, contending that Pathan was killed in a fake encounter.

In his letter, Khan stated that his consent had not been obtained before the petition was moved in the Supreme Court by Hashmi and Akhtar. He also said he had not been consulted before Setalvad registered the complaint. Khan said he agrees neither with the petition nor the complaint as there was no document or proof with either party.

He requested the activists not to file any petition or complaint in the case. If they did, he would have to take action against them, Khan warned.

Regarding Samista Khan, Khan said that he happens to be his nephew and a dismissed SRP constable.

Write Back

This is in reference a news item that appeared in The Indian Express on July 19 (‘Pathan’s father tells Teesta, others to stay away from case’). I, Shahistakhan A Pathan, filed a criminal complaint on July 13 in the case involving the fake encounter that killed my cousin Samir Khan Pathan. A co-accused along with him, I also underwent the trauma of police torture and am entitled to take the legal course available to me. But when I filed the complaint demanding a CBI probe into Samir’s death, his father threatened me. Since Samir’s murder five years ago, his father has not filed any petition or complaint against the police. The reason is obvious. It is out of frustration that he has accused human rights activists of filing the complaint against the police in my name, as reported in your newspaper. Though I know activists Teesta Setalvad, Javed Akhtar, Shabnam Hashmi and Suhel Tirmizi, for their strenuous efforts towards getting justice for the poor, I have not approached them or been guided by them. Surprisingly, I was not even interviewed by your paper before publishing the news item. It might influence and adversely affect my case, which is to be heard on July 24.
Shahistakhan Pathan

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