Dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt gets lifer in 3-decade-old custodial death case

PTI, Jun 20, 2019, 1:47 PM IST

Jamnagar: A local court in Gujarat’s Jamnagar on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1990 custodial death of Prabhudas Vaishnani. Apart from Bhatt, police constable Pravinsinh Jhala too has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.

Prabhudas Vaishnani was among the several persons detained after a communal riot had broken out in Jam Jodhpur town. At that time Sanjiv Bhatt was posted as Additional Superintendent of Police. Vaishnani had died in hospital after his release.

Vaishnani’s brother Amritbhai had filed an FIR against Bhatt, constable Jhala and six other policemen, alleging that the victim was severely thrashed and tortured in custody.

Meanwhile, the court is yet to pronounce the quantum of sentence for six other policemen convicted in the case.