Court admits petition against Indian state

NEW DELHI, May 3 (UPI) -- Police in India's Gujarat state have two weeks to submit to India's Supreme Court a report on the deaths of a Muslim couple in 2005.

The state government of Chief Minister Narendra Modi has come under intense political and public pressure since it was reported that Soharabbudin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in what in India is known as a fake police encounter or a staged battle.

Admitting a petition by Sheikh's brother, a high court bench Thursday ordered the state police to submit a report on its investigation in two weeks.

The order came amidst protests by Muslim members of India's parliament to dismiss the Modi government.

The BBC reported the state police had earlier maintained Sheikh was a militant plotting to kill Modi. However, in March police admitted he was killed in a fake encounter. His wife, earlier believed to be missing, also was reportedly killed and her body burned. Three officers already have been charged in Sheikh's killing.

Gujarat has been in the headlines since some 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in riots five years ago. The riots broke out after about 60 Hindus were burned in a fire in a train, allegedly set by a Muslim mob.