Ishrat case: Top Gujarat cop appears in court on stretcher

Senior Gujarat IPS officer P P Pandey, an accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, today appeared in a Special Court here on a stretcher for hearing on his anticipatory bail application.
After hearing the prosecution and defence, Special CBI Judge Gita Gopi reserved her order on the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Pandey, an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) rank officer, who has been absconding since February last after his name surfaced in the 2004 encounter case.
Pandey, who was last week directed by the Supreme Court to appear before the Court today, got himself admitted to a private hospital here as he was having chest pain.

Later, he was brought to the court in an ambulance and then taken to the courtroom on a stretcher. Pandey's lawyer Nirupam Nanavati submitted a note saying his client has appeared in the court on the SC's direction.
Pandey has been chargesheeted by the CBI for the alleged extra-judicial killing of Mumbai teenager Ishrat Jahan, her friend Javed Shikh alias Pranesh Pillai, and Amjad Ali Rana and Jishan Johar, both said to be Pakistani nationals. Besides Pandey, six other Gujarat policemen figure in the chargesheet, which was filed early this month.
CBI, investigating the case, has in the chargesheet claimed that the encounter was fake and jointly carried out by Gujarat Police with Intelligence Bureau.