Gopinatha Pillai, whose son was killed along with Ishrat Jahan in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat Police in 2004, died in a road accident in Kerala’s Alappuzha on Friday, The Hindu reported. Pillai was a petitioner in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

Pillai, 77, was travelling with his brother when a lorry crashed into their car on Wednesday after his driver applied the brakes suddenly, the police told The Hindu. The driver of his car is in stable condition. Pillai died of multiple fractures on Friday morning. The police have filed a case.

His son Pranesh Pillai, alias Javed Sheikh, was among the four people killed in the encounter near Ahmedabad in June 2004. The Gujarat Police had claimed that the four had links with terrorist groups and were conspiring to kill Narendra Modi, who was Gujarat’s chief minister at that time. However, a special investigation team set up by the Gujarat High Court said the encounter was fake. After this, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.