Former IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt sentenced to life imprisonment in 30-year old custodial death case

Former IPS Officer Sanjeev Bhatt has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a custodial death case dating back to the 90s, reported the ANI.

Another police officer Praveen Singh Jhala has also been sent to prison for life.

Last week, the Supreme Court of India had refused to entertain Bhatt’s plea seeking examination of 11 additional witnesses in the case. Bhatt had moved the apex court saying that examination of these 11 witnesses was crucial for arriving at a just and fair decision in the case.

The Gujarat Police had opposed his plea, calling it a “tactic to delay the outcome of the case”.

Bhatt was accused in the 1989 custodial death case during his tenure. He was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Gujarat’s Jamnagar at the time of the incident.

According to the prosecution, Bhatt had detained more than hundred persons during a communal riot there and one of the detainees had died in hospital after he was released.

He was suspended in 2011 on charges of remaining absent from duty without permission and misuse of official vehicles, and later sacked in August 2015.