Sanjiv Bhatt

Sanjiv Bhatt is a former Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat-cadre.

He earned an MTech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1985.

He is married to Shweta Bhatt.

Bhatt joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1988, and was allotted the Gujarat cadre.

In 1990, as the Additional Superintendent of Police, he detained 150 people in order to control a riot in Jamnagar district.

Prabhudas Vaishnani, one of the detainees, died of kidney failure a few days later, after being hospitalised.

His brother lodged an FIR against Bhatt and six other policemen, alleging that he had been tortured in police custody.

Another man, Vijaysinh Bhatti, alleged that he had been beaten up by Bhatt.

In 1996, as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Banaskantha district, he was accused of falsely framing a Rajasthan-based lawyer in a narcotics case.

It was alleged that Bhatt maliciously filed nearly 40 petitions in the high courts of Rajasthan and Gujarat as well as before the apex court to delay action against him.

The Bar association members have alleged that Bhatt got himself appointed the Gujarat government's officer in-charge for the special appeal petition pending in the SC.

They pointed out that Bhatt is using the Gujarat government as a shield to save himself but is also misusing the public money to fight the crimes he committed.

He was accused in another custodial torture case in 1998.

From December 1999 to September 2002, he worked as Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence in the state Intelligence Bureau (India) at Gandhinagar.

He was responsible for looking after the state's internal security, border and coastal security, and security of vital installations.

He was also responsible for the Chief Minister Narendra Modi's security.

He is known for his role in filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India against the then Chief Minister of the Government of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, concerning Modi's alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

He claimed to have attended a meeting, during which Modi allegedly asked top police officials to let Hindus vent their anger against the Muslims.

However, the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India concluded that Bhatt did not attend any such meeting, and dismissed his allegations.

During this period, the Godhra train burning and the subsequent Hindu-Muslim riots led to over a thousand deaths in February–March 2002.

On 9 September 2002, Narendra Modi allegedly mocked the high Muslim birth rates during a speech at Bahucharaji.

Though Modi denied making such remarks, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) sought a report from the State Government.

Modi's Principal Secretary P. K. Mishra told The Indian Express that the State Government had no recordings or transcripts of the speech, and therefore, could not send these to the NCM.

However, the State Intelligence Bureau provided the NCM a copy of Modi's speech, which had been recorded as part of routine procedure.

Subsequently, the Modi government transferred the Bureau's senior officials on 'punishment postings'.

The officers transferred included Sanjiv Bhatt, R. B. Sreekumar and E. Radhakrishnan.

Bhatt was posted as principal of the State Reserve Police Training College.

In 2003, Bhatt was posted as the superintendent of Sabarmati central jail.

There, he became very popular among the prisoners.

He introduced desserts like gajar ka halwa on the jail menu.

He also posted undertrials in Godhra train burning case on a jail committee.

Two months after his appointment, he was transferred for being too friendly with the prisoners and bestowing favours upon them.

On 18 November 2003, nearly half of the 4000 prisoners went on a hunger strike to protest his transfer.

Six convicts slashed their wrists in protest.

In 2015, Bhatt was removed from the police service, on the grounds of "unauthorised absence".

In October 2015, the Supreme Court quashed Bhatt's plea for constituting a special investigation team (SIT) for cases filed against him by Gujarat Government.

The court lifted a stay on his trial in these cases and asked him to face prosecution.

The court observed that, "Bhatt was in active touch with leaders of rival political parties, was being tutored by NGOs, was involved in politics and activism of creating pressure, even upon 3-judge bench of this court, amicus and many others".

. On 20 June 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sessions Court of Jamnagar District in the state of Gujarat in a 1990 custodial death case.

Bhatt describes himself as a Kashmiri Pandit.