Ishrat case: Special court allows CBI to question Pandey

A special court here today accepted CBI's application to interrogate suspended IPS officer P P Pandey in judicial custody in connection with the encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others.
CBI had moved an application before Special CBI judge Gita Gopi, seeking interrogation of P P Pandey in judicial custody, which was accepted.
Pandey's lawyers had demanded that he be interrogated in his presence, which was also accepted by the court.
Pandey's interrogation has been granted by the Special CBI judge, within visible distance of his advocate.
Pandey, who was absconding for a long period, had surrendered before a CBI court in July after the apex court declined anticipatory bail to him.

CBI has named Pandey, suspended IPS officers G L Singhal, D G Vanzara, Tarun Barot and N K Amin, retired DSP J G Parmar and commando Anaju Chaudhary in the charge sheet, accusing them of murder and criminal conspiracy with regard to the encounter killing of 19-year-old Ishrat, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in June 2004.
Gujarat police had at that time said that the four were on a mission to kill Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
CBI's probe in the case was still on, it had said when filing the charge sheet in July 2013.