Sanjiv Bhatt seeks summons from probe panel on Mallika Sarabhai's plea

Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has requested the Nanavati-Mehta commission to summon him or direct him to file an affidavit regarding the alleged role of Narendra Modi in undermining Mallika Sarabhai's plea filed in the Supreme Court after the 2002 riots.

On Wednesday, the IPS officer wrote to the probe panel with this request. He had made a similar request to the panel last month, when he was called during a hearing of the application moved by the activist and danseuse Mallika Sarabhai.

Bhatt has claimed that he is privy to details about the exact roles played by Modi, former Gujarat minister of state Amit Shah as well as advocates attached to certain law offices in Ahmedabad and Delhi, in undermining Sarabhai's petition.

He has further stated in the letter that despite being posted in the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) during 2002 riots, the Gujarat government has, till date, not ordered him to file an affidavit before the probe panel.

He has alleged in the letter that the chief minister had given Shah Rs10 lakh from secret service funds for further execution of plans to undermine Sarabhai's writ petition.

The IPS officer has also alleged that the funds were drawn from the secret service funds on April 12, 2002, and were immediately delivered to Modi. The money was subsequently handed over by Modi to Shah in Bhatt's presence that very day, the letter alleges.