Ahmedabad: Gujarat police today (Jun 20, 2004) claimed to have "clinching" evidence to prove that Ishrat Jahan Sheikh and Javed Sheikh, two of the four alleged LeT militants killed in an encounter on June 15 in the city, were involved in terrorist activity and had stayed in the city.

"We have got absolute evidence that Ishrat was directly involved in terrorist activities, even though this assignment might have been her first. We have evidence that she at least knew Javed well if not the other two, who were Pakistani nationals," Additional Commisisoner of Police (Crime Branch) D G Vanjhara said. "There are incriminating details obtained from her diary and also a hotel register where the two stayed as a married couple," Vanjhara said.

Talking about the diary that was recovered from Isharat's possession after the encounter, Vanjhara said that it had a detailed handwritten account of financial transactions including receiving Rs 4.80 lakhs and that she passed Rs 1.06 of it to Salim, one of the alleged Pakistani terrorist killed with her.

Moreover, the crime branch claims to have got hold of a register of Shivganga Hotel located in Kalupur area of the city, where the two had given false names and posed as a married couple on May 15.

Police claim to back all this evidence with a tape recorded "confession" of Ishrat's mother Shamima Shaikh, who was grilled by crime branch when she had come to collect her daughter's body two days ago.

Police has released transcripts of this interrogation to media.

The official said that the diary also contained information about recossainace conducted by her and Javed to certain persons houses, whose names are not mentioned but just some coded alphabets.

Police are also investigating about their travel to Surat city on May 8 and trying to trace out local contacts. Ishrat, Javed and two Pakistani nationals, all alleged LeT militants sent to assassinate Chief Minister Narendra Modi, were shot dead in an encounter with crime branch in the wee hours on June 15.

Officials had recovered an AK-56 rifle, a satellite phone material for making explosives and cash.