Ishrat Jahan case: Gujarat High Court stays PP Pande's arrest till August 6

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today stayed the arrest of senior Gujarat police officer PP Pande, accused of murdering college student Ishrat Jahan, till August 6.

The High Court ruled that the senior Gujarat police officer cannot be arrested until his non-bailable warrant matter is heard by a lower court.

Yesterday, after a marathon five hours of arguments and counter-arguments, there was some relief for the senior Gujarat police officer after an Ahmedabad court granted him anticipatory bail till July 31.

Mr Pande, after remaining underground for over two months, yesterday arrived dramatically on a stretcher for the court hearing.

Mr Pande had disappeared in April after he was made an accused by the CBI in the Ishrat case. On Friday, the Supreme Court had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to arrest him, and said he should show up in court.

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On Sunday, the police officer reported to work for a few hours. He was later admitted to hospital after complaining of chest pains.

Mr Pande was heading the Crime Branch in Ahmedabad when 19-year-old Ishrat was shot dead with three men on the outskirts of the city in 2004.

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In its first chargesheet filed last month, the CBI listed Mr Pande as one of seven policemen who allegedly murdered her in what it described as a "staged encounter" committed "in cold blood."

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.