The Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Gujarat High Court to probe the Ishrat Jahan encounter case has issued summons to 19 police officials on November 6. These officials include police inspectors as well as superintendents of police and will have to record their statements with the SIT. The HC recently handed over investigations of the controversial encounter to SIT which is being headed by additional director general of police Pramod Kumar, inspector general of police Mohan Jha and Deputy IG JK Bhatt. The three police officers along with their team recently visited Mumbra in Mumbai where Ishrat Jahan lived and also went to Javed Pillai’s house in Pune. Ishrat and Javed along with two others were termed as LeT terrorists from Pakistan and killed in the encounter in 2004.
A team of Gujarat police officials has recorded statements of family members of Ishrat and Javed to know how long they stayed in their hometowns and when were they last seen in these cities. The team also probed where the duo had purchased the car in which they were gunned down by Ahmedabad crime branch officials.
The cops present at the encounter site near Kotarpur water works will be allowed to narrate their side of story before the SIT. Some of the cops involved in the encounter are already behind bars in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. But, they have not yet been questioned in this regard.