Campaign launched to raise funds for dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's legal aid

New Delhi, Sep 7: The crowdfunding campaign started by Indians Fight for Justice (IFFJ) for legal support to sacked Gujarat Cadre IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been taken down by crowdfunding website Ketto. The campaign started raised Rs 16, 03, 230. The amount is 10 per cent of the total target Rs 1,50,00, 000. However, the page is inaccessible.

OneIndia asked about the reason for the defunct page, the Ketto team shared a new link where the crowdfunding is still active. This website has the contact address of Advocate SS Sayyed, Kshitij Yamini Shyam, Mumbai.

The website states that supporting IPS Sanjiv Bhatt is our collective responsibility. The new campaign page claims, "India is currently passing through one of the darkest phases in its post-independence history. Time-tested democratic institutions are under threat of total and complete subversion at the hands of a totalitarian regime. The independence of the Media has become a distant memory. The spectre of a totalitarian fascist takeover is staring us in the face. Lynchings, rapes, murders, and staged encounters have become commonplace. All voices of dissent are sought to be silenced. The criminal justice system continues to implode under its own weight, while murderers and rapists roam free in society. How did we come to this pass? Why is the police machinery unable to stand upright and perform their duty? Have the police let us down, or have we let the police down? The answer probably lies in the story of one upright IPS officer who continues to be wronged with brazen impudence; and how we, as a nation, let him down."

The day crowdfunding was started by former IIT Professor Ram Puniyani posted a video on Facebook:

Sacked Gujarat police officer Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested on Wednesday by the Gujarat CID in connection with a 22-year-old case of alleged planting of drugs to arrest a man. Bhatt and seven others, including some former policemen attached with the Banaskantha Police, were initially detained for questioning in the case.

Shortly after being questioned, Mr Bhatt was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department, while others are still kept under detention, Director General of Police, CID, Ashish Bhatia said.