The Guajrat high court on Friday formed a new special investigation team to probe the veracity of the controversial encounter killing of Mumbra girl Ishrat Jahan and others.
The SIT, to comprise three senior police officials, will be headed by Delhi joint police commissioner Karnal Singh, and include IPS officers Mohan Jha and Satish Varma of the Gujarat cadre.
The court asked the state government to issue a notification on the new SIT within two weeks and also provide it with the necessary infrastructure.
A two-member division bench of the high court, comprising Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari, directed the new SIT to submit its report to the court within three months of the notification by the Gujarat government.
The Union home ministry suggested Mr Karnal Singh’s name, while that of Mr Mohan Jha (1985 batch) was suggested by the Gujarat government and Mr Satish Varma (1986 batch) was recommended by petitioner Gopinath Pillai, whose son Pranesh Pillai was also killed in the same encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
In June 2004, an Ahmedabad police team headed by DCP D.G. Vanjara, now behind bars as a prime accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, had killed Mumbai-based Ishrat and some others.