Twist in the tale: Jail staff back Vanzara, say Pandian taunted him

The bitter feud between two of the Gujarat Police officers D G Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian, both lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail since 2007 in connection with Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter killing, took a new twist on Thursday with the jail authorities telling a CBI court that it was Pandian who was found misbehaving with Vanzara.

Pandian had filed a complaint with the special CBI court on July 22 that Vanzara had assaulted him the previous day. CBI judge H S Khutwad had sought a report from the jail authorities.

In his reply today, Sabarmati Central Jail's superintendent (administration) R S Bhuriya said, "It was Rajkumar Pandian who was found misbehaving with D G Vanzara on July 21 evening. There were no physical fight but the two exchanged heated arguments."

According to jail authorities, Pandian was sitting in the chamber of a senior jail official when Vanzara came back from civil hospital. As he passed through the entrance, Pandian allegedly passed a comment that irked Vanzara. Jail officials said there were over two dozen policemen when the two got involved in heated arguments, but there was no physical fight at all.

"There are video footages of the incident that clearly show there was no scuffle. It was nothing new. Both keep passing comments on each other over petty issues. We investigated the incident and found there was no truth in Pandian's claims," a jail official said.

In their reply to the court, jail authorities said that following the quarrel, Pandian was shifted from Sardar Yard to another barrack known as Daskholi on July 22.

The barrack also houses four other accused in the encounter case, including IPS officer Dinesh MN of the Rajasthan Police, who were shifted here in January this year following their differences with Vanzara.

Jail sources said the bone of contention is many of Pandian's Right to Information (RTI) applications seeking information about "privileges" that Vanzara enjoys in jail. These have also sought to know about Vanzara's activities in the jail, including a temple that he is said to be constructing.

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