A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the fate of Tulsiram Prajapati, a close friend of fake encounter victim Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who is also suspected to have been killed, an official said in Ahmedabad on Friday.

The Banaskantha district authorities have issued a notification informing people to appear before the sub-divisional magistrate between May 21 and 26 and give whatever details they have about the encounter and about Prajapati's background, the official said.

"We have also contacted Prajapati's parents in Ujjain and have also asked them to come for the inquiry," the official said.

Prajapati is suspected to be the third passenger who was picked up from Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra highway along with Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi on November 22, 2005.

Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter on November 26, 2005, by Ahmedabad crime branch, then headed by D G Vanzara, while Kausar Bi was later killed and her body disposed of suspectedly by police.

This is a significant development as the Gujarat police has already admitted to the Supreme Court that Sheikh was eliminated in a staged killing and that his wife was also killed by the same group of policemen comprising a team of Gujarat and Rajasthan police.