CBI probes ex-minister in Ishrat Jahan case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Ishrat Jahan encounter, is examining whether a former state minister had allegedly met an official of the court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to influence its probe.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Ishrat Jahan encounter, is examining whether a former state minister had allegedly met an official of the court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to influence its probe.

The CBI is verifying whether the former minister had met the official before the SIT submitted its report to the Gujarat high court, according to an agency source.

According to the source, the former minister had sought to get the case weakened against policemen accused in the case, but to no avail. The SIT report—submitted to the high court on November 21, 2011—had concluded that the encounter was allegedly fake, and its findings became the basis of the CBI’s First Information Report in the case.

The CBI suspects that a few public servants then working with the state government had been directed to monitor the SIT’s probe.

The agency has examined a few public servants who attended a meeting held on November 19, 2011, to discuss ways to monitor the SIT’s probe.

Suspended assistant commissioner of police GL Singhal, who is among the seven policemen chargesheeted by the CBI in July, is among those who attended the meeting.

CBI is examining the contents of pen-drives containing alleged recording of conversations during the November 19, 2011, recovered from Singhal.