Sadiq Jamal encounter accused cop Tarun Barot withdraws bail plea from Gujarat High Court

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat's suspended police officer Tarun Barot, one of the main accused in 2003 Sadiq Jamal encounter case, withdrew his bail application from the Gujarat High Court here today.

Barot, who was Deputy Superintendent of Police, withdrew his bail plea since the Gujarat High Court asked him to seek an alternative remedy and approach the sessions court.

Justice Anant Dave of the Gujarat High Court said "the bail application is disposed of as withdrawn".

In his bail plea, Barot had contended Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the charge sheet in Sadiq encounter case on December 21, 2012.

However, since the prosecution in the CBI court has not been progressing, the applicant (Barot) has been in jail for more than two years in the encounter case for no reason, his bail application said.

Last year, Barot had sought bail from the CBI court and the High Court, which were rejected by both.

The case pertains to Sadiq Jamal, a youth from Bhavnagar, who was allegedly killed in an "encounter" by the Gujarat police near Galaxy Cinema in Naroda area of the city on January 13, 2003.

The genuineness of the encounter became an issue after a Mumbai-based former journalist Ketan Tirodkar filed an affidavit before a Mumbai court that he had witnessd Jamal's handover to the Gujarat police by Mumbai police "encounter specialist" officer Daya Nayak, a few days before the "encounter".

The High Court had ordered a CBI probe after a petition by Sabir Jamal, Sadiq's brother. CBI investigated the case and filed a chargesheet in December 2012.

The CBI chargesheet had named DySP Barot, police inspectors Jaysinh Parmar, Irshad Ali Saiyad and Kishoresinh Vaghela, police sub-inspectors Ramji Mavani and Ghanshyamsinh Gohil, as well as police constables Ajaypal Singh Yadav Chhatrasinh Chudasama.

Apart from criminal conspiracy and murder, they have also been charged for wrongful confinement and giving false information regarding an offence committed.