Palanpur: Controversial former IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been convicted in the 1996 drug planting case. He was presented before the Palanpur sessions court today, where the conviction was pronounced. Additional district and sessions judge J N Thakkar found Sanjiv Bhatt guilty of falsely accusing a lawyer from Rajasthan.

The court is expected to announce the sentencing decision on Thursday afternoon. This marks the second time Sanjiv Bhatt has been convicted in a criminal case, following his earlier conviction in 2019 by a Jamnagar court in a custodial death case.

This NDPS case dates back to 1996 during Bhatt’s tenure as the district superintendent of police in Banaskantha, where he allegedly fabricated evidence against a lawyer by placing 1.5 kg of opium in a hotel in Palanpur.

Last year in October, a local court in Palanpur imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Bhatt for submitting a repetitive application that concealed facts from the court. This came just a week after the Supreme Court fined him Rs 3 lakh for submitting applications related to the drug planting case.

According to the details of the case, on April 30, 1996, an anonymous tip accused lawyer Sumersinh Rajpurohit of involvement in the opium trade, alleging he stored 5 kg of opium in Room 305 of Hotel Lajwanti. Acting on this information, LCB PI Vyas led a raid on the hotel, finding 1 kg 15 grams of opium but no suspect. Sumersinh was later apprehended on May 3, 1996. However, it was revealed that Sumersinh had been falsely accused to force him to vacate shop number 06 in Vardhman market. District Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Bhatt and others fabricated a narcotics case against him. Following an investigation, involving evidence collection and witness statements, both LCB Inspector IB Vyas and District Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Bhatt were found complicit and subsequently arrested. DeshGujarat