Gujarat HC sends former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt to 10-day police custody

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court Tuesday sent former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to police custody for 10 days in a 1996 ‘drug planting’ case.

It must be recalled that Last week, a court at Palanpur in Gujarat had rejected the police’s plea seeking Bhatt’s remand. Though the government had sought 15 days custody, Justice R P Dholaria sent Bhatt to the custody of CID for 10 days. CID is probing the case in which Bhatt is involved. It was ordered by the Court in June to investigate the case and file a report in three months.

Maintaining that the custodial interrogation of the two accused (Bhatt and his co-accused IB Vyas) is required as there appears a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the case, the court sent Bhatt to the custody.

Bhatt is alleged to have planted a fake case against Sumersingh Rajpurohit, a lawyer from Pali in Rajasthan in 1996. The Banaskantha police allegedly planted 1 kg opium in a hotel room to frame Sumersingh Rajpurohit. Bhatt, who has levelled several allegations against the then Narendra Modi-led government in Gujarat with regard to the 2002 riots, was Superintendent of Police in Banaskantha district in 1996.