Sanjiv Bhatt calls Modi a 'common criminal'

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Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was released from bail today, called Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi 'a common criminal' and said he needed to be treated like one.

Bhatt, who has accused Modi of complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, said he will be brought to justice if he had any role to play in the communal violence.

"Narendra Modi may be the Chief Minister of Gujarat. But as far as 2002 riots of Gujarat go, he is a criminal, so he has to be treated like a common criminal and that should be his fate eventually," he told reporters after his release from Sabarmati prison where he was lodged for 17 days after his arrest.

"If he (Modi) has had a role to play in 2002 riots he will be brought to justice and all of us will do our best to achieve that. There is ample evidence against him," he said, stepping up his attack against Modi with whom he is locked in a confrontation over the riots.

"As a police officer I see him (Modi) as a criminal and I don't have any doubts about it," he added.

When asked about harassment by police while in lock-up at the city crime branch, Bhatt said, "It is unfortunate and shameful that I also belong to the same Gujarat cadre of officers."