Over a month after former Gujarat IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1989 custodial death case, his wife, Shweta Bhatt, met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala to seek their support in her ‘fight for justice’.
After the meeting, the Kerala Chief Minister tweeted: “Today, Shweta Bhatt visited me in office. We have extended support to her in her fight for the release of Sanjiv Bhatt. We will take the lead to bring together like-minded Chief Ministers and political leaders to support her cause.
Today, Shweta Bhatt visited me in office. We have extended support to her in her fight for the release of Sanjeev Bhatt. We will take the lead to bring together like-minded Chief Ministers and political leaders to support her cause. pic.twitter.com/LsQIWuLIB9
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) July 24, 2019
Sanjiv Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 20, 2019, in connection with an alleged communal riot case dating back to 1989, when Bhatt had detained more than a hundred people and one of the detainees died in the hospital upon his release.
Shweta met the Chief Minister along with All India President of the DYFI PA Mohammed Riyas, after holding a press meet with the DYFI leaders. Later, she spoke at a solidarity conference for Sanjiv Bhatt which was organized by Kerala Lawyers Forum.
Speaking at the press conference, Shweta stated that the case for which Sanjiv Bhatt has been convicted took a u-turn after the officer deposed against the state government in the 2002 Gujarat riots case to the Nanavati Commission.
“He deposed before the Nanavati Commission about 2002 riots and he explained the role of the state government in the genocide. That the day the case took a u-turn. He was suspended and dismissed for being ‘absent’ from duty – the absence was for deposing before the Commission. Followed this, a team came to demolish half of my house in which we have been living for years, saying that it was illegal,” she alleged at the solidarity conference, accompanied by her Santanu Bhatt.
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Stating that her husband was wrongly implicated in a thirty-year-old case, Shweta alleged that the man who died in the case, Prabhudas Vaishnavi, had died 18 days after he was released on bail and that no injuries were found ins the post mortem report.
“I fail to understand how it can be a custodial death. The body was handed over to the family and they had no complaints. On the way back, while they stopped at Jamnagar for tea, members of the VHP suggested that they opt for postpartum so that they would get Rs 2 lakh. Then one of the brothers did so and that application was converted into an FIR,” Shweta Bhatt said.
Shweta stated that the first call she received after she returned home after the judgement was delivered was from Kerala and that she still receives calls of support from the state.
Also present at the press conference were Deputy leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Indian Union Muslim League leader MK Muneer and Congress leader VD Satheesan MLA.