The Gujarat High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case, submitted its report to the High Court on Friday. The court fixed November 21 for hearing on the report.
Sources in the SIT did not say whether it was its final report or only a status report on the investigation.
The sources had earlier indicated that it was still awaiting some reports from the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory on the third reconstruction of the event carried out at the site about a fortnight ago, as well as the psycho-analytical test reports of some of the key witnesses in the case before reaching a conclusive decision on the encounter.
“We have submitted our report as directed by the High Court,” a SIT member said. The High Court had earlier directed the SIT to submit its final report by November 18, but the SIT chief R. R. Verma then had sought for some more time.
He declined to further comment on the report stating that it was now before the High Court which would decide the next course of action.
A division bench of the High Court comprising justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari had constituted the SIT last year for a fresh probe into the encounter deaths of the Mumbra (Mumbai)-based college girl Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh and two others, believed to be Pakistani terrorists, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
The investigation, however, was delayed due to several changes of leadership when at least five senior IPS officers nominated to head the SIT either resigned or refused to take over the charge for various reasons. It gathered momentum only after Mr. Verma, a Bihar cadre IPS officer, was assigned the task a few months ago.
The SIT sources indicated that it had received some information that the four gunned to death in the encounter were seen in the police custody much before their killings, which indicated that it was a fake encounter, but it lacked documentary evidences to substantiate such a conclusion.
During the last hearing on the case on October 7 based on the SIT's interim progress report, the High Court had commented that the investigation was going in the right direction and had expressed satisfaction over the progress made, particularly after Mr. Verma took over.
