Sanjiv Bhatt gets life imprisonment in 1990 ‘custodial death’ case 

Sanjiv Bhatt.

New Delhi: A local court in Jamnagar, Gujarat, found former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and Pravinsinh Zala, police constable, guilty of a murder in a 1990 custodial death and sentenced them to life imprisonment, on Thursday.
 
Special public prosecutors, Tushar Gokani and Madhu Mehta, said, “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 sections 323, 506 for custodial torture.”
 
The case pertains to the death of one Prabhudas Vaishnani, who was among more than hundred people detained and later released in Jamjodhpur town of Jamnagar district during a communal riot. However, Vaishnani later died in the hospital.
 
Vaishnani’s brother Amritbhai had filed a case of custodial torture and death against Bhatt, the then additional superintendent of police, constable Jhala and six other policemen, alleging that the victim was severely thrashed and tortured in custody.
 
The verdict was given by judge DM Vyas and the punishmet for other five accused is still awaited.
 
Bhatt was suspended in 2011 on charges of remaining absent from duty without permission and misuse of official vehicles, and later sacked in August 2015. He is is currently in judicial custody in a 22-year-old drug-planting case of Banaskantha, in a Palanpur jail.
 
Tags: Sanjiv Bhatt, 1990 Custodial Death Case, Sanjiv Bhatt Conviction, Sanjiv Bhatt Life Imprisonment, Pravinsinh Zala, Prabhudas Vaishnani, Prabhudas Vaishnani Custodial Torture Murder

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