Ahmedabad: The CID crime of Gujarat police today moved high court for remand of dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt who was on September 5 arrested by the SIT of the investigating agency here in connection with a sensational case pertaining to the alleged abduction and arrest of a Rajasthan Lawyer after planted recovery of opium from a hotel in Palanpur headquarter town of Banaskantha district in North Gujarat over 22 years ago.

His 14 days remand request was earlier rejected by the ACJM court of Palanpur in Banaskantha district on September 6. Bhatt and the other accused in the case and the then PI of LCB unit of Banaskantha police when Bhatt was SP there, I B Vyas were produced before that court. But the court accepted the defence lawyers argument the case was over two decades old and a petition related to it was pending before the Supreme Court. He along with Vyas (whose remand plea by CID-crime was also rejected) was sent to judicial custody and is now lodged in Palanpur jail.

After that the CID-crime today approached Gujarat high court for remand.

The matter is likely to be heard tomorrow.

A lawyer from Pali in Rajasthan, Sumshersinh Rajpurohit was arrested by Banaskantha police from his native in May 1996 after recovery of one kg Opium from a local hotel in NDPS Act. But during identification parade the hotel manager could not identify him. He was later released. Bhatt was then SP of Banskantha.

Rajpurohit later filed a case in Rajasthan alleging that he was kidnapped by police in plain cloth at the instance of the then Gujarat high court judge R R Jain who wanted forceful eviction of one of his relative from his sister’s shop in Pali.

The Rajasthan court accepted his contention and found fault with Banaskantha police.

Later in 1998 retired Justice Jain filed a petition in Gujarat High Court demanding a thorough probe in the matter alleging that Rajasthan police’s investigation was influenced by the then CM of the state and also the Bar Association of Pali. A co-accused police official I B Vyas also filed another such petition in 1999.

In June this year while hearing the matter Justice J B Pardiwala of the Guajrat High Court ordered a probe by SIT of CID-crime.

DeshGujarat