Bhatt goes to jail,wife sees threat to his life from ‘police under CM’

Bhatt has alleged Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s complicity in the 2002 riots. He was arrested yesterday after Constable K D Pant alleged that Bhatt had forced him to give false testimony before the amicus curiae appointed by the Supreme Court.

The police today searched Bhatt’s home and took away the hard disk of his computer. They also added the more stringent Sec. 194 IPC to the charges under Sections 195,189 and 342. Sec. 194,like 195,deals with fabricating evidence with intent to procure conviction,but denies bail to the accused and provides for the death penalty if an innocent person is convicted on the basis of this evidence.

In Delhi,activists Harsh Mander and Teesta Setalvad alleged that Bhatt’s arrest was part of a larger move to harass witnesses and whistleblowers seeking justice for riot victims.

“We have a duty through the levers of the law and public opinion to ensure that whistleblowers are not pressured and put down,” said Mander,who is also a member of the National Advisory Council.

Setalvad said,“What about the safety of witnesses and survivor-victims,if this is how Bhatt is being targeted? This is part of a larger programme in place for 10 years now,to ensure that there is no one left to question what happened in February-March 2002.”

Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Aparna Bhat were also present at the press conference.