Sanjiv Bhatt in jail, wife fears for his life

A day after the Gujarat Police arrested whistle-blower IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, an Ahmedabad court sent him to jail, rejecting the police demand for seven-day custody for interrogating him. HT reports.The man who took on Modi | Watch video

A day after the Gujarat Police arrested whistle-blower IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, an Ahmedabad court sent him to jail, rejecting the police demand for seven-day custody for interrogating him.

Bhatt's wife, Shweta, said, "Since Sanjiv's arrest, I have not been allowed to meet him. The police officials are not even allowing the lawyer to meet him."

She said she feared for his life, as "he was handed over to the crime branch encounter specialists. I can't trust them at all".

She wrote to the state police chief, Ahmedabad police commissioner and the chief judicial magistrate.

Bhatt was arrested, following a complaint by KD Pant -a constable who was his driver during the 2002 Gujarat riots - that his boss had forced him to sign a false affidavit.

The affidavit claimed that Bhatt had attended a meeting called by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002.

Bhatt is likely to move for bail on Monday. His lawyer IH Sayed argued that the FIR lodged against him has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

"But the Gujarat police arrested Bhatt during the Dusshera vacation in the apex court."

But the BJP justified the Gujarat the action against an "indisciplined" officer.

Congress spokesperson, Abhishek Singhvi, said, "Why is it that this officer is being targeted shortly after he blew the whistle about chief minister Narendra Modi and his government's doings in Gujarat?

Activists Harsh Mander and Teesta Setalwad alleged that Bhatt's arrest was an attempt to silence those who opposed Modi's role during the riots.

"It is a clear case of intimidation of a whistle-blower officer," Mander said.