Sanjiv Bhatt case witness returns, says he was abducted

After remaining traceless for nearly five days, Shrenik Shah, a key witness in the case filed against suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt by police constable KD Panth, surfaced on Friday. He then lodged an FIR at the Chandkheda police station alleging that he was abducted by six people in connection with a land deal that he was brokering.

Shah, a land-broker who lives in Chandkheda, said he was abducted from the city on October 24 by six people. Between 11pm and 12 midnight on October 24, six people in a white car approached him at Chanakya Complex on New CG road and asked him his surname, Shah said, adding that they dragged him into the car and forced him to drink some intoxicating beverage.

"Four of the six people were talking in the language of Maldharis (cattle-rearers) while two spoke a mix of Hindi and Marathi. They told me that I was 'flying high' in land broking and that this was going to be my last effort. They forced me to sign on a stamp paper and kept me hostage for four days," Shah stated in the FIR.

According to Shah the abductors also robbed him of valuables, including his gold chain, rings and Rs45,000 in cash, all taken together worth over Rs1 lakh. He has further stated that the abductors left him semi-conscious at a place around five kilometres from Balasinor in Kheda district.

Earlier, on October 27 (a day after Diwali), the news that Shah was missing had appeared in the media after his relatives submitted an application to the police in this connection. The relatives had then claimed that Shah had to gone to a village in Gandhinagar to perform some rituals and had then become traceless.

The news had sent shockwaves among the police as Shah is a key witness in the high-profile case involving Bhatt. Shah is mentioned as a witness in the FIR lodged by Panth who has alleged that Bhatt had forced him to sign an affidavit that was later submitted to amicus curiae Raju Ramchandran. The affidavit apparently supports Bhatt's claim that he was present at the meeting at which chief minister Narendra Modi allegedly asked senior police officials to allow Hindus to vent their anger during the riots that followed the Godhra train carnage.

SB Trivedi, police inspector of Chandkheda police station who is investigating Shrenik Shah case, said that he is waiting for Shah's medical reports to get clues. He said that Shah had been a land broker for a long time and that someone may have prior enmity with him over some land dispute. Trivedi denied making any breakthrough that could lead him to Shah's kidnappers.

Earlier, Shah had given a statement backing Panth's claim that he was coerced by the IPS officer into filing a statement against chief minister Narendra Modi. It was on the basis of Shah's statement that Bhatt was arrested last month and later released on bail.