Bhatt security: SIT to state,all pass buck

The 47-year-old Bhatt has been under threat since he deposed in the SIT about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modis role in the 2002 communal riots,and filed a similar affidavit in the Supreme Court.

We took up the issue (of Bhatts security) twice… we wrote to the state Chief Secretary and also the Director General of Police, Raghavan said. He did not know what action the state government took on those letters,he said.

Incidentally,in his affidavit to the Supreme Court,Bhatt had annexed copies of two letters he had written to Raghavan seeking security. Bhatt said the SIT had never even responded.

With the government projecting the decision to remove Bhatts security as his decision,the DGP too issued a statement on Friday evening saying Bhatt had used policemen to guard his home without obtaining permission from his superiors. However,he admitted receiving a letter each from both Bhatt and the SIT regarding Bhatts security.

DGP Singh also played down the threat faced by Bhatt,saying the officer had merely done his job like all other police officers and the threat assessment didnt show him at a risk.

However,contrary to DGP Singhs claims that Bhatt was at a low risk level,the threat assessment report regarding him prepared by a Senior Police Inspector,a copy of which is with The Indian Express,says: …It appears that Sanjiv Bhatt and his family members are facing danger from Hindu extremists and the extremist elements of the Sangh Parivar. There are also IB reports that Bhatt is facing a threat to his life from Muslim extremists and Dubai-based underworld criminals….

While the SIT has a Witness Protection Cell,with an IPS officer responsible for providing security to witnesses,the officer M V Damor also told The Indian Express he had no clue about Bhatts case.

We have given security to all witnesses who have demanded it. I do not know anything about Bhatts case,we only follow the orders of Raghavan saheb, Damor said.

Additional Chief Secretary,Home,Balwant Singh too denied state government hand in removing Bhatts security detail. The decision (to take off Bhatts security men) was taken only by the DGP… We never asked the DGP to remove his security. On the contrary,we had asked the DGP in writing to provide him additional security, said Singh.

Asked how the DGP could have ignored the governments advice,Singh said: Well,the DGP assesses all security demands himself and decides on those by himself.