SC to hear Kausar Bi case on Thursday

The Supreme Court, which was to consider the plea for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the killing of Kausar Bi, wife of fake encounter victim Sohrabuddin, on Tuesday decided to hear the case on Thursday.

The court was to pronounce an order on a habeas corpus petition seeking production in court of Kausar Bi.

A bench headed by Justice Tarun Chatterjee said the matter will be listed for hearing before the bench, which had heard it on Friday last.

The Gujarat government had on Monday admitted that Kausar Bi was murdered and her body burnt a few days after her husband was killed in a fake encounter in November 2005.

This was revealed during the custodial interrogation of the three IPS officers arrested in connection with the fake encounter of Sheikh on November 22-23, 2005.

The probe revealed that Kauser Bi was murdered a few days after her husband was killed after being branded as Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist.

A bench comprising Justice Chatterjee and Justice P K Balasubramanyam had heard the matter earlier.

Meanwhile, amid high drama, the three IPS officers were produced in the Metropolitan Court on Tuesday and were remanded to police custody till May five.

The IPS officers were produced in the court of chief metropolitan magistrate K J Upadhyay, following expiry of their police custody remand, even as activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad raised pro-Vanzara slogans.      

Three senior IPS officers -- D G Vanzara (DIG border range), Rajkumar Pandiyan (SP intelligence bureau) and Dinesh M N (SP Alwar, Rajasthan) -- have been arrested in the fake encounter case and now also linked with Kauser Bi's unnatural death.

As soon as Vanzara stepped out of the police van, he was garlanded by members of Vanzara community. Seeking extension of police remand, the prosecution told the court that the police wanted to find out the remains of Kausar Bi.

The prosecution told the court that they also want to find out how and when she was murdered. Besides, the involvement of others also needs to be investigated.