A Jamnagar court on Thursday sentenced life imprisonment to sacked Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in connection with a 30-year-old custodial death case.
Last week, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain Bhatt’s plea seeking examination of 11 additional witnesses in the case. The sacked IPS officer had moved the apex court saying that examination of these 11 witnesses was crucial for arriving at a just and fair decision in the case.
Sanjiv Bhatt is known for his role in filing an affidavit in the top court against the then Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, concerning Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
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He claimed to have attended a meeting, during which Modi allegedly asked top cops to let Hindus vent out their anger against the Muslims. However, the apex court concluded that Bhatt did not attend the meeting and dismissed his allegations.
According to the prosecution, Bhatt had detained more than a hundred persons during a communal riot in Jamnagar (Gujarat) and one of the detainees had died in hospital after he was released.
Bhatt was suspended in 2011 on charges of remaining absent from duty without permission and misuse of official vehicles and later sacked in August 2015.