Ishrat case: SIT submits progress report to Gujarat HC

The special investigation team (SIT), probing the 2004 police encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others, submitted a progress report to the Gujarat high court, officials said on Thursday.

The special investigation team (SIT), probing the 2004 police encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others, submitted a progress report to the Gujarat high court, officials said on Thursday.

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The report was submitted following directions from the division bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari at the last hearing. The next hearing is tomorrow, when the court is expected to review the progress and decide on the new chairman of SIT.

The SIT last week reconstructed the encounter at the scene of offence near Kotarpur, on the outskirts of the city.

The reconstruction was done for the second time with the help of forensic experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

During the last hearing, the recently-appointed SIT chairman Satyapal Singh had requested to be relieved of the responsibility.

Among various reasons for quitting, Singh had highlighted the differences between the other two members of the SIT (Mohan Jha and Satish Verma).

Court then asked the Union government to suggest names of officers to replace Singh.

Ishrat, along with three others -- Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar —- was killed in a police encounter on June 15, 2004.

After the encounter, city crime branch claimed the deceased were LeT terrorists who had come to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.