Jailed Ex-IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s Big Lie Against PM Modi Gets Caught, Here’s All About His Controversies
Controversial former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt who is currently serving life imprisonment in a custodial death case, was left exposed on Wednesday (12 December) after his big lie against Prime Minister Narendra Modi (then Gujarat’s Chief Minister) was busted by the Nanavati-Mehta report.
Sanjiv Bhatt’s Big Allegation Against Prime Minister Modi
A former IPS officer, Bhatt became a big face of the anti-Modi lobby when in 2011 he alleged that during the 2002 post-Godhra riots, the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi had called a meeting at his residence on 27 February 2002 to “let Hindus vent out their anger against Muslims so that repeat of Godhra-like incident never happens in the state”.
Bhatt claimed that this meeting took place following the Sabarmati train burning incident in which 59 Ayodhya Kar Sevaks died. At the time of the alleged meeting, Bhatt was the superintendent of police in the state intelligence bureau.
The allegations were made in an affidavit submitted by Bhatt in the Supreme Court, and claimed that the meeting was attended by eight top police officers. Bhatt also alleged that the SIT constituted to probe the riots was trying to protect the Gujarat government.
Countering Sanjiv Bhatt
The allegations made by Sanjiv Bhatt were countered by the SIT which claimed that Bhatt was not a witness but a manipulator who was fabricating evidence to build pressure on the judiciary in the Zakia Jafri case.
The SIT also claimed that Bhatt was not credible and had never been any “witness” in the meeting at chief minister Modi’s residence.
Sanjiv Bhatt’s Lie Finally Caught
While Bhatt enjoyed much media attention over his sensational allegations, his lie was finally caught by the Nanavati-Mehta report tabled at the Gujarat assembly yesterday (12 December).
Besides giving a clean-chit to Prime Minister Modi in the post-Godhra riots, the report has nailed Bhatt’s allegations by asserting that they were simply not true.
As reported, the Nanavati-Mehta report has concluded that Bhatt lied about the meeting at chief minister Modi’s residence. The report adds that Bhatt created a false document using a fax machine to bolster his lies.
“On consideration of evidence, it clearly appears that Bhatt is not telling the truth with regards to what happened in the meeting held on 27 February 2002, at the CM’s residence. Claims made by him of being present in the meeting appear to be false”, states the report.
It adds that Bhatt’s claims about chief minister Modi’s statements were a fragment of his imagination and “deserves to be discarded as false”.
Other Controversies Of Sanjiv Bhatt
This humiliation at the hands of Nanavati-Mehta report, is the least of Bhatt’s worries as he is currently serving life imprisonment in a custodial death case, dating back to 1989.
The matter relates to the custodial death of one Prabhudas Vaishnani in Gujarat’s Jamnagar in 1989 when Bhatt was serving in the district as additional superintendent of police.
He was convicted by a Jamnagar court in Gujarat and his bail pleas was dismissed by the Gujarat High Court which observed that Bhatt neither respects the courts nor the truth.
Besides this incident, Bhatt has also been accused of framing a lawyer in a drug case to get him arrested. He was also arrested in this matter and his relief plea in connection with this case was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
In 2011 Bhatt was suspended by the Gujarat government for unauthorised absence from duty and misusing official vehicles. The axe fell on his IPS career in 2015 when he was sacked from service for unauthorised absence from duty.