Mumbai, Feb. 15 -- Nearly seven months after a Mumbai sessions court rejected his plea to arraign four Haryana Police officers as accused in the 2016 killing of Haryana gangster Sandeep Gadoli, the Maharashtra government has removed special public prosecutor (SPP) Amin Solkar from the case at a stage when the matter has already been reserved for judgment. The case pertains to the alleged fake encounter of Gadoli, a notorious gangster from Haryana, who was shot dead in a Mumbai hotel near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in February 2016 by a team of Haryana Police officers. Eight people, including police officers, Gadoli's alleged girlfriend and former model Divya Pahuja and her mother, were named as accused in the case. Pahuja was later shot dead in January 2024 in Gurugram, months after she was released on bail. Around seven months ago, Solkar had moved court seeking to add four more Haryana Police officers, including a deputy commissioner of police, as co-accused, arguing that testimonies of four key witnesses during trial pointed to a larger conspiracy behind Gadoli's elimination. His application, however, was rejected by the trial court. Now, on February 11, the Maharashtra law and judiciary department issued a notification cancelling Solkar's appointment as SPP, citing a recommendation from the home department. The order was issued at a time when the trial court has already concluded hearing arguments, evidence and testimonies, and reserved its judgment. Solkar said he received an e-mail informing him of the cancellation. "I am not aware why my appointment has been cancelled at this stage when the judgment is reserved. It is something that no one can understand," he said on Saturday. When asked whether his move to seek the arraignment of four Haryana Police officers led to his removal, Solkar said, "Maybe it did not go down well." Solkar, who was appointed SPP in December 2020, charged no legal fee from the government for his appearance in the case. A criminal lawyer with four decades of practice, he had also been appointed by a Mumbai court to defend Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Advocate Umang Shah, who assisted Solkar in the Gadoli case, said Solkar had appeared in the case through Covid-19 in 2021, examined 43 prosecution witnesses and defended the state's case against the accused right up to the Supreme Court. He added that after the plea to add four more Haryana officers as accused was rejected, the subsequent cancellation of Solkar's appointment did not come as a surprise....