Court rejects police remand of Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt
Palanpur (Gujarat), Sep 7: A court here on Thursday rejected the Gujarat Police plea seeking remand of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and sent him to judicial custody in connection with a 22-year-old case of alleged planting of drugs to arrest a man.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police had picked up Bhatt and then inspector of Palanpur police station I.B. Vyas on Wednesday.
The CID produced them before Additional Judicial Magistrate V.R. Charan here in Banaskantha district, seeking their 14-day custody.
Arguing against the plea for remand, the defence lawyers pointed out that the case was over two decades old and a petition related to it was pending before the Supreme Court.
The magistrate accepted the arguments and rejected the CID's demand, and sent both the accused to judicial custody at the Palanpur sub-jail.
Bhatt was Banaskantha district superintendent of police in 1996 when the alleged incident occurred. According to details, the Banaskantha police arrested Sumersingh Rajpurohit, a lawyer, on charges of possessing around one kilogram of opium.
Police claimed the drug was found in a hotel room rented by Rajpurohit at Palanpur.
But later a probe revealed that Rajpurohit was falsely implicated by the police to pressurise him to vacate a disputed property in Pali, his hometown in Rajasthan.
Following complaints, the Gujarat High Court in June handed over the case to the CID and asked it to complete the investigation within three months.
CID officials told reporters on Wednesday that the former IPS officer and others allegedly hatched the conspiracy to arrest Rajpurohit by planting drugs on him, so as to force him to vacate the disputed property.
Bhatt, who has often criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots, was sacked by the Union Home Ministry in August 2015 for "unauthorised absence" from service.
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Mangaluru’s Karavali Utsava is back; Cultural, beach events lined up, here’s the complete schedule
Mangaluru: This year’s Karavali Utsava will commence on December 20, with a wide range of cultural, adventure, and tourism-focused programs planned across Mangaluru and other parts of the Dakshina Kannada district, Deputy Commissioner Darshan H.V. said.
He was speaking while presiding over a Karavali Utsava preparedness review meeting held at the District Commissioner’s office.
The main event will be held at the Karavali Utsava grounds in the city. In an effort to promote beach tourism, special programs will be organised at six beaches across the district, which include Panambur, Ullal, Someshwara, Sasihitlu, Tannirbhavi, and the Blue Flag Beach.
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Outlining the schedule, the Deputy Commissioner said adventure sports will be held at Sasihitlu Beach, while a wine, cheese, and cake festival will take place at the Tannirbhavi Blue Flag Beach.
A music festival and triathlon are planned at Tannirbhavi Beach. Football, volleyball and other sports events will be organised at Ullal Beach, cultural programs at Panambur Beach, and a music evening and yoga program at Someshwara Beach.
In addition, food festivals featuring a variety of local and regional cuisines will be held at all beaches. The Kala Parba program and a flower and floriculture exhibition will be organised at Kadri Park, while a film festival is also planned in Mangaluru city.
A football tournament will be held at Nehru Maidan on December 27 and 28, and special programs will be organised at Pilikula Nisargadhama. To attract tourists, helicopter joyrides have also been arranged, the Deputy Commissioner said.
The review meeting was attended by Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Narvade Vinayak Karbari, Mangaluru Deputy Divisional Officer Meenakshi Arya, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mithun H.N., Deputy Conservator of Forests Antony Mariappa, and other officials.
