Activists up in arms over Bhatt arrest; wife writes to Chidu

Activists and NGOs in Ahmedabad and Bangalore took out a rally protesting the arrest of Sanjeev Bhatt , who has accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Bhatt,  a 1998-batch IPS officer and former deputy commissioner of Gujarat’s Intelligence Bureau, was arrested on Friday (30 September) in Gandhi Nagar, for allegedly forcing a junior officer – KD Pant – to file a false affadavit to support his claim that he had attended a February 2002 meeting where Modi had allegedly told the police to go slow on the riots. Bhatt has been accused of threatening a public servant, fabricating false evidence and wrongful confinement.

Pant, a police constable, had worked under Bhatt during 2002 riots in Gujarat.

Protestors termed the arrests as having an ulterior motive and cited political vendetta on the part of the Modi government, who Bhatt has spoken out against.

“His arrest is totally untenable and motivated,” social activist Teesta Setalvad, was reported as saying in the Hindustan Times . “When the Apex Court was seized with the matter, what prompted the Gujarat police to arrest the officer in such a hasty manner?” she asked.

Protesting outside Bhatt’s residence, danseuse Mallika Sarabhai said the chief minister was only continuing a precedence he had set: silence all those who speak out of line with what he wanted propagated. “Modi has always tried to somehow put us behind so that we can’t speak,” she said, “Sanjeev Bhatt’s case is following the same script.”

The Gujarat Congress has slammed the government, saying it suffers from a ‘Hitler-like mentality’ .

“The government of Gujarat suffers from a Nazi-Hitler-like mentality. It imprisons all those police officials who have the courage to oppose the government,” senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela told mediapersons after meeting with Bhatt’s wife Shweta. “To put someone who stands up for the truth behind bars is a big blot on the government of Gujarat,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bhatt’s wife, Shweta, has written to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram appealing to him for Bhatt’s safety and has accused the government and the state police of colluding in targetting Bhatt.

Shweta told TV channel, Times Now, that she was scared for her husband.

“The past few days have been very traumatic and the treatment meted out to a senior police officer, his wife and family have been very undignified,” she said. “They barged into our house, without permission, without asking me anything they just ransacked our house…it was as if they were on a mission to humiliate us,” she said.

A Gujarat sessions court today admitted the bail application of suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt. The court also sent a notice to the Gujarat government and the state Director General of Police. Both cases will come up for hearing in the sessions court tomorrow (Tuesday).

Senior IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who has been locked in a public confrontation with the Gujarat government over 2002 post-Godhra riots, was suspended 8 August, on grounds that his conduct was unbecoming of an IPS officer. The specific reasons cited against Bhatt was unauthorised bsence of duty, non-appearance before a departmental panel and alleged misuse of official vehicle.

Bhatt has accused Narendra Modi of misusing state machinery against Muslims during 2002 post-Godhra riots. In an affidavit to the apex court, Bhatt had alleged that he had attended a crucial meeting convened by chief minister on 27 February 2002 after Godhra incident, in which Modi had instructed senior government officials to allow Hindus to “vent out their anger” during the clashes and wanted Muslims to be “taught a lesson”.

Watch video of protests against Sanjeev Bhatt’s arrest: