Will ex-top cop Sanjiv Bhatt’s allegations against Modi be probed: Shiv Sena

Ravi Shankar Prasad had addressed a press conference on Param Bir Singh’s allegations in Bihar two days ago and said that there must be a fair probe into the allegations by an outside agency

Pushed into a corner over allegations against the Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the ruling Shiv Sena went into an offensive on Tuesday against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that former Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt made serious allegations against then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and asked if the law ministry will take action based on the letter now.

Former policeman Sanjiv Bhatt accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots and was jailed for life on June 20, 2019 for the death of a man in custody in 1990. (AFP File)

“If a letter from a police officer is used to seek a government’s dismissal or home minister or chief minister, then I ask those who created the ruckus, BJP and Ravi Shankar Prasad, the law minister, Sanjiv Bhatt, IPS officer and one other officer, has repeatedly written such ‘letter bombs’ against the Gujarat government. Are you going to take action against then chief minister and current chief minister based on the letter? The allegations made by Sanjiv Bhatt were even more serious than Param Bir Singh’s. But you have put Bhatt behind bars,” Raut told reporters in New Delhi.

Former policeman Sanjiv Bhatt accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, of complicity in the 2002 communal riots, and was jailed for life on June 20, 2019 for the death of a man in custody in 1990.

Meanwhile, Singh was recently removed as the Mumbai police commissioner over alleged mishandling of a bomb scare case near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence. Singh wrote to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray a few days ago, alleging that Deshmukh asked Sachin Vaze, a suspended policeman who has been arrested in connection with the case, to collect ₹100 crore from various establishments in Mumbai. The bomb scare case is being handled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Deshmukh said that the former Mumbai top cop is trying to save himself.

Raut said that the letters written by Bhatt should be brought out and discussed. He said that the Sena has the letter and asked if Ravi Shankar Prasad will take action. “The letter should be excavated by them or we will provide them the letter. We have the letter [by Bhatt] and will send it to the law minister, he should study it.”

Ravi Shankar Prasad had addressed a press conference on Singh’s allegations in Bihar two days ago and said that there must be a fair probe into the allegations by an outside agency.

A day after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said that there was no need to seek Anil Deshmukh’s resignation, Raut said that Pawar spoke based on information and his assessment was “logical”. “There are no different [stands] of either the Shiv Sena or NCP. It is a government decision. If Pawar saheb has put forward some point, then I believe that it is the government’s stand,” Raut said.

On Singh’s move to approach the Supreme Court and seek a probe into his allegations by a central agency, Raut cited former Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha member Ranjan Gogoi’s statements that the Supreme Court works under pressure and is used like Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation.

“It is good that Param Bir Singh has gone to the Supreme Court. Retired Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who is a Rajya Sabha member, had said that nobody gets justice in Supreme Court and it works under pressure. If Singh wants to get his work done through this pressure, he can do so,” he said.

When asked if the state government will order a probe into Singh’s letter, Raut said that the government will decide.