Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Sep 30: Sanjiv Bhatt, deputy inspector general of Gujarat police who dared his chief minister Narendra Modi and accused him of playing a central role in the 2002 Godhra riots, was arresred on Friday September 30.

He was taken into custody on charges of allegedly threatening a policeman and forcing him to sign a false affidavit. An FIR in this regard had been filed against him in Ghatlodiya police station in Ahmedabad on June 24 by K D Pant, a constable in Meghaninagar police station.

Bhatt had earlier filed an affidavit in the Apex Court implicating Modi in the Godhra riots.

Pant had alleged that Bhatt threatened him and forced him to sign a false affidavit which stated that Narendra Modi had called a meeting on February 27, 2002 instructing the police to turn their backs on the violence. Bhatt claimed in the affidavit that he was present at the meeting.

The Ghatlodiya police had registered an FIR against Bhatt for threatening a public servant, fabricating false evidence, wrongful confinement, and initiated investigations against him.

Pant later retracted his statement and said in his FIR that on June 16 he was threatened by Bhatt and forced to sign an affidavit to the effect that he had accompanied him to the meeting at the chief minister's residence.

Pant stated in the FIR that he had protested, as he was on leave during the Godhra riots, a point that he had stated before the Special Investigation Team on April 5 this year.

Bhatt's arrest comes less than 48 hours after Bhatt filed an additional affidavit in the Gujarat High Court implicating Modi and the then minister of state for home Amit Shah in connection with a report pertaining to the murder of Haren Pandya, another former minister of state for home and BJP leader.

Bhatt was also served a charge sheet on September 18 by the Gujarat home department for his alleged unauthorised absence from duty for the last ten months.