Ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested on Tuesday, 12 July by the Gujarat Police in the Gujarat riots case. Eventually, a metropolitan court on Wednesday sent former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to police remand for seven days.
FIR
An FIR was registered on June 24 based on the observation made by the Supreme Court. It is alleged that he along with activist-journalist Teesta Setalvad, former Gujarat State Director General of Police, RB Sreekumar fabricated the evidence to seek conviction of the accused in 2002 soon after the Godhra riots.
Allegations on Sanjiv Bhatt
Sanjiv bhatt was arrested by police through a transfer warrant in which they mentioned him of allegedly embezzling funds and forging documents.
Furthermore, the Special Investigation Team, formed under the aegis of Crime Branch Ahmedabad, sought 14-day custody of Bhatt.
A FIR was filed against Trio accusing them of abusing the process of law by conspiring to fabricate evidence to frame innocent people in connection with the Gujarat riots.
Flash back
Sanjiv Bhatt was the Deputy Commissioner Incharge of Internal Security at the State Intelligence Bureau during 2002. when the Gujarat riots broke out, Sanjiv was the first officer to report about the Godhra train burning incident.
Bhatt boldly claimed the then Chief Minister of Gujarat now PM Narendra Modi had called all the senior police officials to his residence on the night of 27 February 2002. Furthermore, he claimed that Mr. Narendra Modi, instructed all the police officers to all the people to “vent their anger against Muslims” for 72 hours to avenge the Godhra incident.
Affidavit against SIT
Moreover, the former officer had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, against the SIT. He alleged that the SIT was attempting to protect Modi and the other powers that be.
Dismissed from Police service
However, all his allegations were refuted and the accused were given a clean chit. Eventually, Bhatt was dismissed from the police service in 2015. The Gujarat government filed charges against him and put on a trial on him.
Observations of the Court
According to the observations of the court, Bhatt “hatched a political conspiracy”. The court added that, Bhatt along with certain NGO’s, deliberately created political pressure.
Life Imprisonment
Later on, many charges were framed against him and he has been behind bars since 2018. He was arrested for framing a Rajasthan-based lawyer in a narcotics case. Bhatt was found guilty in the custodial death and torture of Prabhudas Vaishnavi. Finally, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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