Ishrat case: Probe panel recovers key document

The one-man inquiry panel, set up to trace the missing files related to alleged fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan, has found one key document after examination of a few senior officers.

The panel, led by BK Prasad, Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry, found the copy of a letter written by the then Home Secretary GK Pillai to the then Attorney General late GE Vahanvati from the hard disk of a computer of the Home Ministry, official sources said.

The clue about the letter was received by the inquiry committee after examination of three former Joint Secretaries, handling the sensitive Internal Security Division in the Home Ministry. These officers were retired IAS officer Deverakonda Diptivilasa and serving IAS officers Dharmendra Sharma and Rakesh Singh, sources said.

A number of director, deputy secretary and under secretary-rank officers were also examined by the panel. The inquiry panel has so far not been able to trace the other missing files related to the case.

The one-member panel was constituted after Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing.