Ishrat Jahan case: can't arrest PP Pandey for now, Supreme Court tells CBI

The Supreme Court has said that senior Gujarat police officer, PP Pandey, should not be arrested till after his appeal is decided, most likely on Monday, against being made an accused in the Ishrat Jahan case.

Mr Pandey, who was Joint Commissioner, Crime Branch, when Ishrat was killed, has been missing for weeks. He disappeared after the CBI filed a case or FIR against him in a Gujarat court. The Supreme Court ordered that on Monday, he must appear in the court in Ahmedabad that's handling the Ishrat case.

Ishrat, a 19-year-old college student, was shot dead along with three men by senior members of the Ahmedabad crime branch in 2004 on the outskirts of the city.  

In its first chargesheet filed last month, the CBI listed Mr Pandey as one of the seven policemen who allegedly murdered her in what it described as a "staged encounter" committed "in cold blood." (Read: How Ishrat Jahan, others were killed according to the CBI)

Advertisement

The policemen have said in their defence that they had been warned by the state's Intelligence Bureau that Ishrat and her companions were planning to assassinate chief minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The CBI said yesterday that it will expand its inquiry to determine whether that is true.  In its  first chargesheet, it did not comment on the alleged terror links of the group, provoking fierce criticism from the BJP. The party said that the government is pressuring the CBI to suppress crucial information to undermine the administration of Mr Modi, who is widely seen as the front-runner for the BJP's prime ministerial nomination.

Advertisement