On September 5 the Gujarat Police detained former police officer Sanjiv Bhatt in Ahmedabad for questioning in a 20-year-old criminal case relating to falsely framing a lawyer.

Bhatt, a former Indian Police Services officer, was dismissed in 2015 for taking on then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s administration for its handling of the 2002 riots.

In 2011, Sanjiv Bhatt had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court accusing Narendra Modi of being complicit in the 2002 riots.

The Palanpur case for which he was detained last week dates to 1998, wherein the police had arrested a lawyer who was allegedly in possession of 1.5 kg of narcotics. Now, Bhatt has been accused of falsely framing the lawyer. He was arrested after being brought in for interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Gujarat Police, following directives from the Gujarat High Court.

Bhatt’s wife Shweta Sanjiv Bhatt, in a video and a letter uploaded on social media platforms has said that she has not heard from Bhatt since the police arrested him on September 5.

A copy of the letter:

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Many have expressed concern on social media, with the hashtag #JusticeforSanjivBhatt attached to the posts.