Ahmedabad:
The wife of suspended Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has written another letter to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram saying her husband is being treated like a terrorist. In the letter, Shweta Bhatt has said she fears for her husband's life and that the Gujarat government is doing all that it can to deny bail.
Mrs Bhatt has also sent the Home Minister a CD of visuals of her husband inside the lock-up in Ahmedabad Crime Branch where she claims he was badly treated.
In the letter, she has also written that on September 30, when about 35 policemen raided her house, they were abusive and behaved like barbarians. She claims her 86-year-old mother-in-law had fainted by the trauma.
Mrs Bhatt had also written a letter to Mr Chidambaram on September 3, appealing to 'ensure the safety' of her husband. The Home Ministry had responded to her letter and had asked the Gujarat government to ensure that security is provided to Mr Bhatt and his family.
Earlier today, a court in Ahmedabad ruled that Mr Bhatt is entitled to apply for bail. The Gujarat Police had challenged this on the grounds that it has filed a parallel case that asks for Mr Bhatt's custody. Whether Mr Bhatt leaves jail will be decided on Friday. (
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Mr Bhatt was arrested on September 30 for coercing a constable to back his testimony against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Bhatt has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, alleging Mr Modi of complicity in the riots that took place in Gujarat in 2002. As part of his affidavit, Mr Bhatt included a statement from KD Pant, a junior officer. Mr Pant's statement supported Mr Bhatt's claim that he was present at a meeting on February 27, 2002 when Mr Modi asked senior policemen to go slow on rioters. Other policemen who attended that meeting on record have said Mr Bhatt was not present. Mr Pant's statement said the opposite. Later, Mr Pant said he had been threatened by Mr Bhatt into supporting him.
The Congress and activists in Gujarat accuse the Modi government of using the state machinery to persecute the police officer.