As heads of the Anti-Terrorism Squads in Maharashtra and Gujarat 11 years ago, these two IPS officers kept in touch to co-ordinate inter-state efforts to track and nab terror suspects. Now retired, the two men — K.P. Raghuvanshi, a former Maharashtra police DGP, and D.G. Vanzara, who is a former Gujarat police DIG — have come together to begin anew on their old mission but in a different role.
Through a newly-set up NGO, Justice for Victims of Terrorism, the duo seek to offer relief and rehabilitation to the victims of terror across the country whether they are in the ranks of the police forces, armed forces, para-military organisations or the lay public. The NGO, which was registered recently in Ahmedabad, Gujarat will be launched there on October 9.
The NGO’s aim will be to hunker down and help the victims of terror in ways including legally, financially or via medicines and counselling since “beyond a certain period, nobody cares about them, people forget,” said Mr Raghuvanshi, when contacted by The Asian Age.
When asked about the inspiration behind this initiative, Mr Raghuvanshi said, “Take any blast that happened in Maharashtra or anywhere else in the last 10 years. There were NGOs that came up to help the accused but no NGO came up to uphold the human rights of terror’s victims. Our NGO will fill that gap and help a victim of terror.” Echoing his views, Mr Vanzara said, “Ours is the first NGO that will work for the human rights of terror victims. For me, it’s a new beginning, the past is past.” Along with Mr Raghuvanshi and Mr Vanzara, Gujarat’s former DGP S.S. Khandwawala will be part of the NGO, along with a few retired high court judges, doctors, lawyers and businessmen.
Mr Raghuvanshi had come under the cloud after the ATS’ investigation into the September 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case in Maharashtra. Nine Malegaon residents arrested by the ATS had been discharged in April 2016 by the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) due to a lack of evidence. On the other hand, Mr Vanzara, who was chargesheeted in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter and the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter cases, is out on bail since February 2015.
