The three IPS officials, arrested on Tuesday for their alleged role in the fake encounter case, were on Wednesday remanded to police custody till May one.
D G Vanjhara, (Deputy Inspector General Gujarat Border Range), R K Pandian (Superintendent in Intelligence Bureau) and Dinesh Kumar M N (Rajasthan Police) -- arrested by the CID (Crime) on Tuesday, were produced in the court on Wednesday.
The prosecution had sought 14-days police custody on the grounds that they need more time for interrogation. However, the court granted police custody till May one.
The accused appeared calm in the jam-packed court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate K J Upadhyay. In the court premises, all the accused preferred to maintain silence rather than respond to queries from media persons.
The three are accused of murdering a Madhya Pradesh-based alleged criminal Sohrabuddin Sheikh in November 26, 2005 on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and claiming that he was a Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant who was on a mission to kill senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The officials were taken away quickly from the court after the magistrate gave his orders on remand.
The encounter was done when Vanjhara, known to be close to the chief minister, and Pandiyan were the senior-most officers in the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad. Though initially the police's claim went unnoticed, the victim's brother took up the matter with Supreme Court and that led to a detailed probe by Gujarat CID into the alleged fake killing.
The Gujarat CID's report to the SC admitted that the encounter was a fake one and that the procedures followed by Vanjhara and his team clearly indicated foul play.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Home Minister G C Kataria and two senior officials have arrived in Ahmedabad to gather information regarding the arrests of three IPS officers.
Kataria, Rajasthan DGP A S Gill and Home Secretary V S Singh are scheduled to meet their Gujarat counterparts on Wednesday.
"We will gather information about the case and discuss the matter with our Gujarat counterparts," Kataria told media persons on his arrival.
He said the track record of Dinesh kumar was good. He said he would gather more details about his role in the November 26, 2005 encounter.