Sacked IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt Gets Life Sentence In 30-Year Old Custodial Death Case

Jamnagar: In a significant development, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and Pravinsinh Zala, another police officer, found guilty of a murder in a 1990 custodial death case and sentenced them to life imprisonment on Thursday.

“The court found Pravinsinh Zala and Sanjiv Bhatt guilty under IPC section 302 and thus sentenced them to life imprisonment under IPC section 302. Rest of the accused were found guilty under section 323, 506 for custodial torture.

Notably, the case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar. He had detained around 150 people during a communal riot in Jamjodhpur town, at the time of a rath yatra, being carried out by LK Advani. One of the detained persons, Prabhudas Vaishnani, had died in a hospital after he was released, allegedly due to torture. A complaint of custodial death was registered against eight policemen, including Bhatt, by Amrutlal Vaishnani, the brother of the deceased.

Tags: IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, Sanjiv Bhatt, Custodial Death Case , Pravinsinh Zala