Guj man complains against sacked cop Bhatt's crowd-funding move

A metropolitan court on Tuesday ordered a police inquiry into a Gandhinagar resident's complaint alleging cheating and criminal breach of trust by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, currently serving a life sentence in a custodial death case.

In his complaint, Amit Solanki claimed Bhatt was raising Rs 1.5 crore through crowd-funding under the 'Indians Fight for Justice' campaign on social media by deceiving people with falsities, and that it was an attempt to convert black money into white.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate A Y Dave ordered an inquiry under section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to determine whether prima facie case is made out on Solanki's complaint.

The court ordered the inspector of Shahibaug Police Station here to probe the allegations and file a report within three months.

In his complaint, Solanki said Bhatt was raising money through others to fight cases against him as well as rebuild his house which was recently demolished by civic authorities, adding that Rs 26 lakh had been collected so far.

Solanki, in his complaint, claimed he had contributed Rs 11,000 for the crowd-funding campaign believing Bhatt was "honest and upright".

Solanki sought that the court order the police to file an FIR against Bhatt under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.

Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment in June this year for a custodial death that took place in 1990.

On September 5 last year, he was arrested for allegedly implicating a man in a drug case 23 years ago.