Ahmedabad:
For two months, he was underground, ignoring orders to show up in court in Ahmedabad. Today, PP Pande, the Gujarat police officer accused of murdering college student Ishrat Jahan, arrived at court on a stretcher from the hospital where he was admitted on Sunday after complaining of chest pains.
Mr Pande had been ordered by the Supreme Court to appear in court today. He spent over four hours lying on a stretcher while the judge considered his request for bail. His lawyers said he has "an immaculate record" and is the target of a "witch-hunt" by the CBI.
Mr Pande had disappeared in April after he was made an accused by the CBI in the Ishrat case. On Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI not to arrest him, and said he should show up in court. On Sunday, the police officer reported to work for a few hours.
Mr Pandey was heading the Crime Branch in Ahmedabad when the 19-year-old was shot dead with three men on the outskirts of the city in 2004.
In its first chargesheet filed last month, the CBI listed Mr Pandey 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.