Modi-baiter cop Sanjeev Bhat arrested

Agencies

New Delhi, 01 October 2011: Suspended Indian Police Service officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who had accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of abetting 2002 riots, was on Friday arrested for allegedly threatening his subordinate.

 

As per the FIR filed by Gujarat state police constable KD Pant, Bhatt had pressurised him to sign an affidavit testifying that the officer participated in a high-level meeting after the Godhra carnage in which Bhatt had alleged he witnessed the Chief Minister’s anti-Muslim bias.

 

Pant had worked under Bhatt during the 2002 riots. The FIR has been filed under sections related to charges of threatening a public servant, fabricating false evidence and wrongful confinement.

 

 

Bhatt, in his affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, had alleged complicity of Modi in post-Godhra riots and had also stated that Pant, who knew about the Chief Minister’s meeting, was threatened with dire consequences and arrest by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing some of the 2002 riot cases on the directions of the Supreme Court.

 

He had further alleged Pant was virtually treated like an accused by the SIT during his questioning on April 5, 2011.

 

Bhatt was recently served a chargesheet by the state home department in connection with his alleged unauthorised absence from duty for the last ten months.

 

Bhatt, a 1988 IPS batch officer, was suspended under the provisions of All India Services (Discipline and Appeals) Rules, 1969 after he submitted the affidavit in the apex court. Reasons given for suspension were Bhatt’s unauthorised absence from duty for ten months, non-appearance before a departmental panel, and misuse of official vehicle.