AHMEDABAD: Within four days of his release on bail in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, 1980-batch IPS officer PP Pandey ’s suspension has not only been revoked, but he is also given charge of the probe against investigator in this case, Satish Verma.

The government notification issued on Monday said that Pandey is posted as additional DGP (law and order). It also bestows the responsibility of the investigations being carried out by an SIT into three cases of custodial deaths that allegedly happened in Porabandar district when Verma was the superintendent of police. Ahmedabad police commissioner Shivanand Jha was heading this SIT till now.

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It was Verma’s aggressive probe in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case upon Gujarat high court’s (HC) orders that nailed Gujarat cops including Pandey, who came to be arrested in August 2013. Now, Pandey is heading the probe against Verma, who is now on central deputation as CVO in North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) in Shillong.

In 1996-97, when Verma was SP of Porbandar, two people — Jasu Gagan Shail and Aher Ranmal — were killed in police encounters, while Aher Narayan Jesthi was found handing from the tree outside a police station, though he was in police custody.

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In 2011, Jasu’s brother Hira Shial moved the HC and demanded a fresh probe on the ground that Gujarat police did not carry fair probe on earlier HC orders in 1998. The HC asked the government to conduct fresh probe in three custodial deaths.

However, these investigations were stayed later by the Supreme Court upon Verma’s appeal.