Ishrat case: Singhal not to withdraw resignation

Girish Singhal, the first police officer from Gujarat to be arrested in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, today said he would not withdraw his resignation.

When asked by reporters -- while he was being taken out of court by CBI officers -- whether he would withdraw his resignation, Singhal, an IPS officer, said, "No, I won't."

He was brought to the magistrate's court today following completion of six-day CBI remand. He and retired DSP J G Parmar, who was also in CBI custody, were remanded in judicial custody by the court as CBI did not seek further remand.

Singhal had tendered his resignation from the Indian Police Service (IPS) after his arrest. But the state Home department questioned authenticity of signature on the resignation letter, and said it would be verified.

Singhal has said in the resignation letter that police department and the government failed to protect him from victimisation.

Singhal, posted as Superintendent of Police at the State Crime Records Bureau, was arrested by CBI on February 21.

He was Assistant Commissioner of Police, Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), Ahmedabad, when 19-year-old Thane-based girl Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai and two alleged Pakistani nationals Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter on June 15, 2004 on a stretch of road between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

Gujarat Police had claimed that they were part of a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba to assassinate Chief Minister Narendra Modi.