Email hacking case may land Sanjiv Bhatt in prison again

The respite to suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was released on bail on Monday after 17 days in prison, may not last long.

The next action against the IPS officer may be taken by the Vastrapur police in connection with an FIR lodged against Bhatt by his once bosom friend, advocate general of Gujarat Tushar Mehta. Mehta has accused Bhatt of hacking his email account, which is a non-bailable offence under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

"We can't ignore this case as it's a non bailable offence for which an offender can be imprisoned with fine. The case is under investigation and it will take some time before we are in a position to take action," said Sudhir Sinha, Ahmedabad police commissioner.

The police are tightlipped about the progress of investigation in the email hacking case but sources said that investigations had reached a point where the police might take action against the IPS officer again.

The sources said that the Vastrapur police have communicated a couple of times with cyber experts of the detection of crime branch to get clues in the case. But the police refused to divulge any information in this connection. AK Sharma, police inspector at Vastrapur police who is investigating the case, just said that investigation is going on.

When asked about the status of the probe, Sandeep Singh, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1 under which Vastrapur police station falls, said that nothing could be said about it right now.

Bhatt is also facing murder charges in a case of custodial death registered 21 years ago in Jamjodhpur, Jamnagar. Last week, the Gujarat high court rejected his petition challenging the government's decision to withdraw a revision application filed in 1996 protecting him from prosecution in the case.

A third complaint is pending against Bhatt at Kamalabaug police station in Porbandar where the IPS officer allegedly tortured a person.

The fourth case against the IPS officer is registered in Pali, Rajasthan. In the case, Bhatt is accused of unfairly slapping sections of the Narcotics Act on a person with the intention of forcibly vacating the house owned by the sister of a sitting judge of the Gujarat high court.