Thaindian News

Gandhinagar, Aug 17 (IANS) Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who has alleged the complicity of Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots, has been slapped with a bailable warrant issued by a Jamnagar court in a 21-year-old case.

The warrant was issued by Additional Sessions Judge N.T. Solanki Tuesday after Bhatt, an accused in the case, failed to appear for the hearing and the state withdrew its revision petition filed in the case. “The revision petition was withdrawn after I went to the Supreme Court,” Bhatt said.

The case pertains to a communal riot in Jamjodhpur in Jamnagar District on Oct 30, 1990 following a Bharat Bandh called by the BJP where a mosque, along with 17 houses belonging to the minority community, were burnt. Bhatt was posted as the Deputy Superintendent of Police and had arrested 133 people in this case. One person had died days after his release and an FIR was filed against the police including Bhatt.

The state government in 1995 sought closure of the case. However, the court ruled for prosecution.

“The state government sought a revision in 1996, but withdrew the petition the day I moved the Supreme Court on July 8,” Bhatt said.

Bhatt on Tuesday moved Gujarat High Court challenging the withdrawal of the revision petition filed by the state government in Jamnagar Sessions Court. “Since I was busy with the high court here, I could not attend the Sessions Court in Jamnagar and therefore this warrant,” Bhatt added.

Bhatt has been at the receiving end of the Modi government’s ire since he approached the Supreme Court in April this year alleging that he was present in the controversial meeting held at Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Feb 27, 2002 immediately after the Godhra train carnage where Modi allegedly asked senior police officials to allow Hindus to vent their ire on Muslims.