Gujarat cop to be arrested in Ishrat case

After escaping the CBI in the Ishrat Jehan fake encounter case for more than a month, Gujarat’s Additional Director General of Police Pruthvi Pal Pandey is close to being arrested.

In a setback to Pandey, the Gujarat High Court on Monday rejected his petition seeking the quashing of the FIR filed by the CBI against him in the case. Though Pandey has the option of approaching the Supreme Court, the verdict opens the door for his arrest.

Pandey was accused of passing on the “intelligence inputs” to his colleagues that dubbed Ishrat and three others as LeT affiliated terrorists out to assassinate the Gujarat chief minister. He was joint commissioner of police in Ahmedabad city when the encounter took place in June 2004.

The 1982-batch IPS officer was summoned by the CBI this year, when he failed to show up for questioning. He was subsequently declared an absconder on June 21.  

As the CBI tried to arrest him, Pandey had moved the high court seeking the FIR against him to be quashed.

The high court on Monday said the FIR cannot be quashed at this stage as it reveals cognisable offences including criminal conspiracy and murder.  Mukul Sinha, who appear for the victims in the case, said: “The investigating agency without further delay should arrest Pandey and extract more vital information which will enable them to take the investigations further and examine the role of other people involved.”

 Counsel for Ishrat Jahan’s family, I A Syed reiterated the court’s observation that prima facie a case was made out against the officer.

“And with investigations still on and the CBI expected to file its chargesheet shortly, it won’t be proper to quash the FIR,’’ said Syed.

The CBI is expected to file its report at the Gujarat High Court on July 4.