The Gujarat government has announced a special investigation team to probe criminal conspiracy and forgery charges against former DGP RB Sreekumar, activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt.
All three were charged after the Supreme Court order giving a clean chit to the Modi government in the 2002 riots, which took strict action against the trio. FIR Against the massive three citations from the Supreme Court order.
Profile of SIT:
Deepan Bhadran: The 41-year-old police officer who heads the team is a native of Kerala and is a 2007 batch IPS officer. B.Tech in Electronics Engineering, he has worked in various important positions in Gujarat Police including the much-awaited DCP, Crime, Ahmedabad, post from 2015 to 2020 and as SP in-charge of Gujarat ATS. During his Ahmedabad stint, he advanced policing skills with significant software inputs.
As DCP, Crime, the cases he handled included the attempted murder and detection of former Home Minister Gordhan Zadafiya. Tablighi Jamaat Activists who attended a congregation in Delhi before the Covid pandemic and the Jet Airways threat letter case.
In September 2020, Bhadran was transferred as the SP of Jamnagar to deal with the land mafia in the city. Reliance Industries Director, Corporate Affairs and Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani welcomed the move on Twitter, who said, “Your posting here will bring great relief to law abiding citizens, land owners, builders, traders, traders and factory . area owner. Jamnagar is home to Reliance Refinery and several important establishments.
Bhadran’s biggest achievement in the posting was busting a land mafia gang led by Jayesh Patel, many of whose members were arrested before Patel himself was detained by Interpol in London in March 2021.
Due to this Bhadran was promoted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG), ATS, Ahmedabad Headquarters. This was done in December 2021 by upgrading the vacant ex-cadre post of SP, ATS to the vacant ex-cadre post of DIG, ATS.
Chaitanya Mandlik: B.Tech in Civil Engineering, Mandlik, 36 years old, is a 2011 batch IPS. Originally hailing from Maharashtra, he ruffled some feathers as a probationary officer in 2013 when he busted a gambling house. BJP In Rajkot, raided the warehouse of the member and then the same leader, seized liquor worth Rs 1 crore.
Mandlik served as ASP, Deodar, Banaskantha in 2015; SP, Mehsana, 2016 to 2018; and SP, Sabarkantha, by 2021. During his time in Mehsana and Sabarkantha, Mandlik was credited with controlling law and order in the aftermath of the Patidar movement. In January 2021, he was transferred as DCP, Crime, Ahmedabad.
Sunil Joshi: An IPS officer of 2010 batch, 37-year-old Joshi served as SP, Valsad and later as SP, Devbhoomi Dwarka from 2016 to 2020. In November 2021, when he was posted at Devbhoomi Dwarka, he seized drugs worth Rs 313 crore, leading to the arrest of three people. He was transferred to ATS last year as a promotion posting.
BC Solanki: A state cadre officer, Solanki, 61, retired last year as Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Operations Group (SOG), Ahmedabad, and is currently on extension. He has been made the investigating officer in the Teesta-Srikumar-Bhatt case. Solanki was part of the Supreme Court-appointed SIT that probed the 2002 Gujarat riots cases (it was a clean chit by the SIT that was upheld by the Supreme Court) and in 2018, while posted as ACP, SOG, The allegations against Setalvad were investigated. Organization for the Justice and Peace of illegally excavated bodies related to the 2002 riots.
PG Vaghela: Deputy SP Vaghela was among the 18 officers who investigated the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, in which 56 people died. A court recently convicted 49 people for the blasts, in which 38 were awarded death penalty. Now the Crime Branch (DCB) team, led by Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia, including 56-year-old Vaghela, made the first arrest after 19 days of investigation, which included Tracking millions of cellphone calls.
AD Parmar: 61 year old Parmar retired as Inspector and is currently on extension. He was also part of the Supreme Court-appointed SIT that probed the Gujarat riots, and later served in the SOG of the Ahmedabad Police and Crime Branch.
Hiral Rawal: A police inspector in Ahmedabad DCB, Rawal, who is in his late 20s, is a direct recruit in Gujarat Police through GPSC.