Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has filed an affidavit before the Gujarat High Court (HC) putting on record a possible link between the fake encounters of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati and the killing of former state minister Haren Pandya. Bhatt has also hinted at the possible involvement of CM Narendra Modi and former minister Amit Shah in Pandyas murder. The CBI had arrested Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case,but he is now out on bail. Bhatt says in his affidavit that he has intentionally refrained from disclosing the details of the evidence in this regard since he would be required to depose before other legally empowered fora. Bhatt made these revelations while contesting one of the state governments contentions with reference to a 1990 case of custodial torture and murder registered against him and six other policemen in Jamnagar district. According to Bhatt,in November 2003,when he was posted as the Superintendent of Sabarmati Central Jail,he had sent a very important documentary evidence regarding the role of certain highly placed state functionaries/politicians and senior police officers of the state of Gujarat in the killing of Haren Pandya to the Home Department. However,on the same day,Bhatt added,the then minister of state for home Amit Shah telephoned him and expressed severe displeasure about the evidence forwarded. Bhatt claimed Shah also asked him to immediately destroy the report under which the unsavoury documentary evidence was forwarded. However,Bhatt thought it fit and prudent to immediately send another report along with a copy of the documentary evidence directly addressed to Shah. Bhatt added that he did so to put on record the telephonic conversation and to ensure that the said crucial evidence was not disregarded or destroyed by interested parties. By this act of his,Bhatt added,Modi and Shah were highly disturbed and agitated and they repeatedly asked him to withdraw this particular communication. Bhatt has also stated that the killings of Sheikh and Prajapati and arrests of police officer Abhay Chudasama and Shah in the case fortified his suspicion about the real motives behind efforts by Modi and Shah to persuade him to destroy the communication containing details of the evidence related to Pandyas murder. Not divulging further details on the evidence,Bhatt has added that he has been under legal advice to do so.
