Ahmedabad, Feb. 18: D.G. Vanzara, a retired IPS officer who was one of the main accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Ishrat Jahan fake encounter cases, today walked out of jail to a hero's welcome and declared that " achchhe din" were back.

"Surely, achchhe din (good days) have returned for me and other Gujarat police officers," the former DIG told the media, after leaving Sabarmati Central Jail. The promise of "achchhe din" was the general election campaign slogan of Narendra Modi, in whose tenure as Gujarat chief minister the fake encounters occurred in 2004 and 2005.

Vanzara's wife Gauriben and several others garlanded him as he walked free after almost eight years. Hundreds of his supporters - mostly members of his community - had turned up to greet him, and many among them burst crackers.

The former police officer said he did not regret what he had done, climbing atop an SUV to address the media. "We have not done anything wrong. We are bound by the law and did everything in the interest of the nation. We have actually stopped Gujarat from becoming Kashmir," he claimed.

The encounters were genuine, he claimed, and the cases against him were "fake".

"The encounters were not fake. The cases filed against officers and subsequent investigation made into the cases were certainly fake. Our actions were genuine. Since the cases are sub-judice, I don't want to comment more... but my legal stand is that till charges are not proved, accused is innocent," he said.

Vanzara was arrested on April 24, 2007, in connection with the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, and was behind bars since. He retired in jail in June last year.

About a year ago, Vanzara had tendered his resignation and sent a 10-page letter to the state home department in which he alleged that former home minister Amit Shah was responsible for his situation. He also said that Narendra Modi had let him down.

Today, asked about the charges, Vanzara said he does not live in the past. "That was a different time. Let us not discuss the past. I live in the present. Whatever happened was a result of the prevalent political scenario at that time in India. I hold no party or person responsible for what had happened," he said. "I hold the Indian political system responsible for that, not anyone in particular."

Vanzara, who left for Mumbai within a few hours of his release because he was granted bail on the condition that he would stay out of Gujarat, alleged that Gujarat police was targeted for political reasons and this "pains me a lot".

Although bail was granted to him in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case on February 5, he was not released earlier because he did not furnish the bail bond.

Asked whether he would join politics, the controversial officer who was known to be close to Modi replied with an emphatic "no".

But he added: "Politics is everywhere, from the birth of a child to his death and even after that." He said he was a soldier, not a political person.