D. G. Vanzara

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Dahyaji Gobarji Vanzara, commonly known as D. G. Vanzara, is a former Gujarat Police officer who headed the state’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). He joined the police in 1980 as a deputy superintendent, became an IPS officer in 1987, and retired in 2014 as Deputy Inspector General.

Vanzara’s career was marked by controversy over alleged extrajudicial killings carried out by ATS under his leadership. He spent time in judicial custody from 2007 until bail was granted in 2015. In 2017, he was acquitted in the Sohrabuddin case due to lack of evidence.

By September 2013, 32 officers—six of them IPS officers—had been jailed in connection with encounter killings. Vanzara argued that officers were implementing government policy, and he criticized investigators for arresting field officers. In the Prajapati case, an encounter occurred in Banaskantha district soon after his transfer there, with Amit Shah later named as kingpin in that case.

In February 2020, Vanzara was cleared in fake encounter cases and received a post-retirement promotion to IG, retroactive to 29 September 2007.