Sanjiv Bhatt, a former officer in the Indian Police Service (IPS), was acquitted in a 1997 case involving custody torture since the prosecution was unable to “prove the case beyond reasonable doubt”.
Porbandar additional chief judicial magistrate, Mukesh Pandya, granted Bhatt the benefit of the doubt because there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
Bhatt was previously convicted of planting narcotics to frame a lawyer from Rajasthan in Palanpur in 1996 and given a 20-year prison sentence in a 1990 custodial death case in Jamnagar.
In addition to other charges, Sanjiv Bhatt was charged with causing grievous harm to obtain a confession under the Indian Penal Code.
Following a complaint by a man named Naran Jadav, Bhatt and constable Vajubhai Chau, against whom the case was acquitted after his death, were charged under sections 330 (causing hurt to extort confession) and 324 (causing hurt with dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code for torturing him physically and psychologically. At the same time, he was in police custody in order to obtain a confession in a case under the Arms Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).
According to Hindustan Times, Jadav said that two tortured him physically and psychologically. At the same time, he was in police custody to coerce him into confessing to a case under the Arms Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).
There, he received electric shocks all over his body, including his intimate areas and Jadav’s youngest received current shocks as well.
According to reports, Jadav was one of the 22 defendants in the 1994 arms landing case. According to the prosecution, a group of Porbandar police officers used a transfer warrant to take Jadav from Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail to Bhatt’s home in July 1997.
After the plaintiff informed the judicial magistrate about the torture, an investigation into the incident was mandated. On December 31, 1998, the court registered a case based on the probe’s findings and summoned Bhatt and Chau.
On April 15, 2013, years later, the court mandated that the police file a formal complaint against Bhatt and Chau.
After the plaintiff informed the judicial magistrate about the torture, an investigation into the incident was mandated. On December 31, 1998, the court registered a case based on the probe’s findings and summoned Bhatt and Chau.
On April 15, 2013, years later, the court mandated that the police file a formal complaint against Bhatt and Chau.
In March 2024, a Palanpur court sentenced the former IPS officer to 20 years in prison in connection with a 1996 case, even though he was already serving his life term in a 1990 custodial death case.
