IPS officer Satish Verma, on Friday, told the Gujarat high court that an official of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is being harassed by the government authorities as he is a material witness in Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

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Verma told the court that, BK Mistry, assistant director of FSL, Ahmedabad, is being harassed by the state government and that this was a clear 'obstruction' in the CBI’s investigation of the Ishrat case.

However, a bench of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari observed that Mistry should raise his grievances before the appropriate authorities. The matter came to light while the court was hearing Verma’s petition seeking protection against the inquiry initiated against him by the state government.

Verma gave to the bench copies of the letters addressed to him by Mistry and submitted that Mistry is a material witness in the Ishrat encounter case and had submitted some reports.

The IPS officer further told the court that, according to a letter, he (Mistry) is not being given a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) by the government for renewal of his passport. His annual confidential report (ACR) had also been affected, Verma told the court.

Verma further submitted that he (Mistry) had been summoned twice to Vadodara to record his statement and once to Surat in connection with an inquiry and was threatened by officers with dire consequences.

Mistry, who has been transferred to Junagadh, is the officer who had lodged a complaint against Verma for “threatening and misbehaving with him” when the police officer had raided the FSL office.