Out of the hiding: Ishrat Jahan case top officer PP Pandey surrenders

Ahmedabad, Aug 13: Senior Gujarat police officer PP Pandey, wanted for the murder of college student Ishrat Jahan and three others, has surrendered in a court in Ahmedabad today, one day after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected.

Pandey arrived at the court hearing on a stretcher few days back in a bid to win anticipatory bail after evading arrest for months. But he went into hiding after that and applied for bail to the Supreme Court, which was rejected.

The judges said, "You were an absconder earlier also. Your conduct makes you dis-entitled to anticipatory bail."

Pandey was head of Ahmedabad's Crime Branch in 2004 when Ishrat, 19, was shot with three men on the outskirts of the city. Last month, the CBI filed a chargesheet and said seven cops including Mr Pande had shot the group "in cold blood" and destroyed evidence, reported NDTV.

On being questioned about the assassination, the police officers say that they had been warned by the Intelligence Bureau that Ishrat and the others were terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and planned to assassinate the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP has its own version and they refuse to comment on whether Ishrat was a Lashkar accomplice, the CBI is concealing important information to embarrass the chief minister in the months leading up to the national election.

OneIndia News