The NHRC today issued a notice to the Gujarat police on the ‘‘disturbing circumstances’’ in which Samirkhan Pathan died.Pathan, who has been suspected of plotting to assassinate Dy PM L.K. Advani and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, was killed in an encounter with police in Ahmedabad on Oct 22.NHRC chairperson Justice J.S. Verma said the reply to the notice should reach NHRC within two weeks.Verma pointed out that the intimation of the custodial death of Pathan in an encounter was received from the office of Joint Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad.‘‘It is to ensure a fair inquiry into such killings and to ensure compliance with the rule of law that NHRC has issued guidelines requiring the procedure to be followed in such cases before reaching the conclusion that the killing was justified under the law and it was not the result of a fake encounter.’’
