A sting operation by Aaj Tak television news channel and the news portal Tehelka claimed on Wednesday that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had instructed senior IPS officers not to probe the alleged fake encounter of Samir Khan by tainted police officer D G Vanzara.

"The encounter of Samir Khan in 2002 -- the first in the string of encounters of so called 'terrorists' in Gujarat -- was not only stage-managed, the then principal secretary to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, P K Mishra got the inquiry papers replaced and instructed senior IPS officers not to probe the encounter since Vanzara had carried out the killing in public interest," the channel claimed in a statement.

It said Tirath Raj, the then Inspector General, Human Rights, had submitted a 20-page report to the Gujarat government indicting the CMO, the then DGP K Chakraborty, then Ahmedabad Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) P P Pandey and Vanzara for 'fabricating documents and hushing up the inquiry'.

"These officers were called to the CMO. The CM's secretary PK Mishra said that they (Vanzara and others) had acted in public interest. He instructed Chitaranjan Singh (then acting Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police) to destroy the papers," Raj told undercover journalists, the statement claimed.

The statement alleged Vanzara had made a phone call to Raj and threatened to kill him if he did not stop inquirng into the matter.