The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Gujarat government and the Centre on a petition alleging shoddy investigation into killings of three British nationals by a mob during the post-Godhra riots and seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into it.

A bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia asked the state government and the Centre to file their responses within two weeks.

The petitioner Imran Mohammed Salim Dawood, a resident of West Yorkshire in United Kingdom, alleged that he and his relatives were cornered by a mob on February 28, a day after the train carnage incident, and four of them, including three British nationals, were killed.

Counsel for the petitioner said the British high commission repeatedly wrote to the police saying the accused mentioned in the complaint were not arrested and the response of the police was that investigation was on to trace the culprits.

Meanwhile, the court, after hearing amicus curae Harish Salve, asked the Gujarat government to provide a status report on the number of accused in all the riot cases, those on bail and in custody.