Bhatt in judicial custody Wife says she fears for her husband's life; police says no threat

Bhatt in judicial custody

Wife says she fears for her husband's life; police says no threat

Ahmedabad, October 1

Senior IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, was today sent to judicial custody after a court rejected the plea for police remand.

Police had asked for seven days' custody of Bhatt, who was arrested yesterday, in connection with the complaint filed by constable K D Pant.

However, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate B G Doshi rejected the plea, and sent Bhatt to judicial custody for 15 days.

Earlier in the day, Bhatt's wife Shweta said that she feared for her husband's life, as he had been handed over to the city crime branch.

However, City Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha said that the apprehension was "unfounded".

The police also went to search Bhatt's house today, for the second time, but had to return when Shweta demanded to see a fresh search warrant. She also alleged that police were harassing them, for speaking the truth.

Bhatt was arrested in connection with the FIR filed by Pant for allegedly threatening him and making him sign a false affidavit with regard to a meeting called by Modi on February 27, 2002, hours after the Godhra train carnage.

Bhatt has been charged under IPC sections 341 (causing wrongful restraint), 342 (causing wrongful confinement), 195 (giving fabricated evidence) and 189 (threat of injury to public servant).

"Today around 30 to 35 police officers came once again to raid our house. But today, I confronted them and asked them to produce a search warrant. They were able to just produce yesterday's warrant as they did not possess a fresh search warrant," Bhatt's wife Shweta told PTI.

"I told them that to search our house based on yesterday's warrant amounted to harassment. They cannot search our house twice on the basis of one warrant," she maintained.

"After that they left our house," Shweta further said.

"The police are trying to harass us as my husband has spoken the truth," Shweta stated. — PTI

Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann

The Shiromani Akali Dal(Amritsar) is of the opinion that when officers disclose the crime of genocide, as was perpetrated against the Muslims in Gujrat by Chief Minister Narinder Modi then the officers who below the whistle are put in the dock, instead of the genocidaries being sent to trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. We fail to understand why some countries think that THIS(Theocratic Hindu Indian State) is a democracy and practices the rule of law when the Sikhs, Muslims and Christians suffer state persecution and the abominable crime of genocide his overlooked and the West turns a belind eye to it?

Simranjit Singh Mann,

President

Shiromani Akali Dal(Amritsar)