SC stays probe in Ishrat Jahan case

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New Delhi, May 3 ): The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the fake encounter of 19-year-old Gujarat college girl Ishrat Jahan and three others.
The Gujarat High Court-appointed SIT has just one member Inspector General of Police Satish Verma left now. The SIT had had senior IPS officers Karnail Singh, Mohan Jha and Satish Verma at the time of its formation.
The officers had approached the apex court and argued that of the three SIT members, Singh has been transferred, and another member Jha will look after administrative matters of the SIT, in effect leaving just third member Verma to probe the case.
Ishrat was gunned down by Gujarat police along with Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
The encounter was carried out by a team of Ahmedabad Crime Branch led by DIG D.G. Vanjara. The police alleged that all four were Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives involved in a plot to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
In August 2009, the Ahmedabad Metropolitan court ruled that the killing of Ishrat Jahan was a fake encounter.