The Curious Case of Sanjiv Bhatt’s Sacking & 2002 Godhra Riots
There are some stories in Gujarat which don’t require any special investigation. Just a cursory look at the facts is sufficient.
So when the Criminal Investigation Department of Gujarat Police suddenly swooped down on dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Wednesday, to arrest him in a 1996 case, it may not have surprised him. Only that the charge on Bhatt this time, that of framing a lawyer in a narcotics case some 22 years ago, is not as flimsy as the one that straightaway cost him his job of 27 meritorious years.
It was in 2015 when Sanjiv Bhatt was flabbergasted to find a Union Home Ministry memo delivered to him stating that he was dismissed from duty
His crime? ‘Unauthorised Absence From Duty’. This followed an ex-parte departmental inquiry without anyone seeking his official explanation. He has been denied his pension and other service benefits.
Sanjiv Bhatt’s ‘Unauthorised’ Absence from Duty
And what was he actually doing when he was absent from duty allegedly without permission? Bhatt was deposing before the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry appointed by none other than the Gujarat government. And what was the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry probing? It was inquiring into the 2002 Godhra and post-Godhra communal violence in Gujarat, in which many alleged the complicity of the then Narendra Modi state government. Sanjiv Bhatt was among those. His depositions and affidavits before the Nanavati Commission, the National Commission for Minorities, and the Supreme Court contained incriminating material suggesting the state’s complicity and deliberate inaction during the 2002 violence.
When the 2002 communal violence broke out, Sanjiv Bhatt was the Deputy Commissioner in-charge of Internal Security at the State Intelligence Bureau.
He was one of the first officers to report that the 27 February 2002, Godhra train burning incident could spark off possible retaliatory violence. It did happen and nearly 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the span of a week.
The Gujarat Police received country-wide condemnation for not being able to prevent the largescale violence despite intelligence tip-offs.. Much later, Bhatt sparked off controversy when he claimed that at a high-level meeting on the night of 27 February 2002 at the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence in Gandhinagar, senior police officials were told to let people vent their anger for 72 hours and avenge the Godhra train-burning incident.
Bhatt’s Bold Testimonies
Bhatt’s reports and advisories as an officer in the Intelligence Bureau were presented before various commissions and courts as his evidence of state complicity and administrative inaction during 2002.
Bhatt was included as a key witness in the 2006 complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, the widow of slain MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed along with 38 others in the Gulbarg Society massacre, on 28 February 2002.
The refusal of the Gujarat Police to treat this complaint as an FIR was challenged in the Supreme Court by Zakia Jafri in 2008. Besides deposing before the SIT that was inquiring into Zakia Jafri’s complaint, Bhatt also filed an exhaustive affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging attempts of the SIT in shielding the powers-that-be, including Narendra Modi.
The Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court, dismissed his allegations and filed a closure report, giving a clean chit to Narendra Modi and other powerful functionaries of the state. This closure report is currently under challenge before the Gujarat High Court, and Sanjiv Bhatt remains a key witness to the alleged role and function of the state administration in the 2002 pogrom.
State Protection to Bhatt’s Family Withdrawn
Bhatt went to school at the Hill Grange High School in Mumbai, and is an alumnus of St Xavier’s High School, Loyola Hall, in Ahmedabad. An IIT-Bombay graduate, Bhatt cleared his civil services examination with a top rank and chose the Indian Police Service (IPS) when he was 23, in 1987. He was allotted the Gujarat cadre.
Less than two months ago in July, the BJP-controlled Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation demolished around 92 metres of Bhatt’s house stating that it was illegal.
The demolition was carried out round-the-clock for one full week. Bhatt’s wife Shweta – who had contested elections on a Congress ticket from Maninagar in 2012 – had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging an order of the Gujarat High Court ordering the demolition. Within an hour of the apex court rejecting the petition, the AMC team arrived with bulldozers and began razing the property.
Meanwhile, at around the same time, the state government withdrew the security cover given to Sanjiv Bhatt and his family.
Other Incarcerated IPS Officers in Gujarat
Sanjiv Bhatt is not alone to have faced the wrath of the powers-that-be for standing up to the BJP government in Gujarat. Take two senior IPS officers of the Gujarat cadre, Inspector General of Police Satish Verma and DIG Rajnish Rai, for instance.
After Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister, Verma was shunted out as Chief Vigilance Officer in the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd, Shillong, Meghalaya, and Rai as CVO in the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) at Jaduguda, Jharkhand.
The two have clearly stated in their petitions that they are being harassed for doing their jobs diligently.
Courtesy: www.thequint.com
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
