Godhra probe panel summons Sanjiv Bhatt

Wednesday April 27, 2011 11:06:12 PM, IANS

Gandhinagar: The Nanavati-Mehta commission probing the 2002 Godhra train carnage and the communal riots in Gujarat thereafter, Wednesday summoned top police officer Sanjiv Bhatt to depose before it May 16.

The summons has been issued on an application filed by lawyer-activist Mukul Sinha, who has been representing the riot victims on behalf of the Jan Sangharsh Manch(JSM).

Sinha moved a plea seeking to cross examine Bhat after the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer after filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court, which said Chief Minister Narendra Modi had allegedly directed the police to go slow on rioters and to allow the Hindus to vent out their anger.

When contacted, Sanjiv Bhatt said: "I received a telephone call from C.G. Patel, secretary of the commission, informing me to be present on May 16."

Bhatt will be deposing before the probe panel for the first time.

According to sources, the officer's deposition will have serious fallout for the state government as the cross examination is open to media coverage.

Sanjeev Bhatt, a 1988 cadre IPS officer and the principal of the Reserve Police Training College in Junagadh, earlier this month filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court, claiming that he was present at an emergency meeting held Feb 27, 2002, to review the law and order situation following the Godhra train carnage, which left 59 people dead and triggered a violence that claimed over 1,200 people.

He claimed in the affidavit that the chief minister had instructed the police authorities to allow Hindus to vent out their anger.

Soon after the contents of the affidavit became public, the then Gujarat director general of police, K. Chakravarthy, disputed Bhatt's claim, saying that he was not present at the key official meeting.

Chakravarthy in his testimony before the Nanavaty panel Oct 28, 2004 had said that he did not remember if his immediate boss, the then minister of state for home, Gordhan Jhadapia, and urban development minister I.K. Jadeja were present at that meeting.
 

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