It is likely to explain that an important accused in the encounter case has given leads to the March 2003 murder of Haren Pandya, who was Modi's bitter political enemy. Pandya was gunned down at Law Garden in Ahmedabad in what the CBI had described as a reprisal attack in the wake of 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom.
Sources said the CBI would leave the matter to its headquarters to take a call on reopening the Pandya case, stating that this was beyond its brief.
The Gujarat high court had acquitted all the 12 accused in the Pandya case and the matter is now pending before the Supreme Court. The case is much more sensitive for Modi than the encounter cases as this involves a former minister of state for home who he had politically targeted.
Pandya's father, Vithhalbhai Pandya, had first raised questions over the investigations in his son's murder. He maintained it was a political murder till his death a couple of years back. Now Pandya's widow, Jagruti, is pressing hard for a fresh probe.
After the acquittal of the 12 accused in mid-2011, the CBI had moved a special leave petition before the Supreme Court to challenge the HC judgment. The apex court had slammed the CBI for sloppy investigation.
Who is singing?
There is speculation that the witness being quoted by CBI for the leads it has got in the Pandya murder case is a senior IPS officer, who has spent six years in jail in the Sohrabuddin encounter case. He had remained steadfast as he enjoyed special privileges in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad. But the recent shifting to Taloja jail, after the case got transferred to Mumbai, has broken his resistance.
