Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt convicted in 1996 NDPS case

Ahmedabad: Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt was convicted in a 1996 narcotics case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) by the Palanpur Sessions Court, Gujarat on Wednesday.

The case dates back to Bhatt's tenure as the District Superintendent of Police in Banaskantha, where he was accused of framing a lawyer, Sumersingh Rajpurohit, by planting 1.5 kg of opium in a hotel room in Palanpur.

The Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested Bhatt for allegedly fabricating evidence against Rajpurohit.

Bhatt was already serving a life sentence for a custodial death case dating back to 1989.

In this earlier case, the Jamnagar court found Bhatt guilty of causing the death of Prabhudas Vaishnani, who succumbed to injuries sustained while in police custody.