Suspended IPS officer Girish Singhal who was arrested in Ishrat Jahan and three other fake encounter cases was granted bail by a special CBI court on Monday. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate H S Khutwad pronounced the order on the default bail application moved by Singhal following his completion of 90 days in judicial custody without being chargesheeted by the probe agency CBI. Magistrate Khutwad also told Singhal's lawyer to deposit Rs 1 lakh as surety as condition for the bail. Singhal is lodged at Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad. Singhal was arrested by the CBI on February 21 while serving as Superintendent of Police,state Crime Record Bureau,Gandhinagar. CBI while opposing the bail had cited two main reasons behind not filing chargesheet - the absconding Additional Director General of Police P P Pandey and a technical problem that delayed questioning of another accused IPS D G Vanzara who was arrested in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case earlier. Singhal was as Assistant Commissioner of Police who led the team of Detection of Crime Branch,Ahmedabad,on June 15,2004,the day 19-year-old girl Ishrat Jahan,her friend Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh,Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were killed and branded as terrorists out to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Singhal was the first arrest by CBI after the agency was handed over the case which was claimed as fake by Gujarat High Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). Following SIT's revelation CBI lodged an FIR against 20 police officials of murder,kidnapping and criminal conspiracy.
