Court sentences ex cop Sanjiv Bhatt to life imprisonment in custodial death case

Jamnagar, Jun 20: A court in Gujarat on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to expelled IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1990 custodial death case.

The Jamnagar-based court of sessions judge D N Vyas convicted and sentenced Bhatt, but the quantum of sentence for six other policemen, who were also convicted, is yet to be pronounced.

The case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar district of Gujarat. He detained around 150 people during a communal riot in Jam Jodhpur town. One of those arrested, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died in a hospital after his release.

Vaishnani's brother later lodged an FIR against Bhatt and six other police officials, accusing them of killing his sibling by torturing him in detention.