A sessions court inGujarat's jamnagar on Thursday sentenced sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to tolife imprisonment in connection with a 1990 custodial death case. The verdictcame a week after the Supreme Court refused to entertain Bhatt's plea toexamine 11 additional witnesses in the custodial death case. Besides Bhatt, anotheraccused policemen Pravinsinh Jhala has also been awarded life imprisonment inthe case.

As per the reports, Bhatt was posted as additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar during the communal riots in 1990 and he had detained more than 130 people in connection with the incident. Later, one of the detainees named Prabhu Vaishnani died in hospital following his release from the police custody. Following Prabhu's death, his brother lodged a complaint against Bhatt and other police officials for custodial torture.

Sanjiv Bhatt was then Assistant Superintendent of Police of Jamnagar. Bhatt was suspended in 2011 on charges of remaining absent from duty and sacked in August 2015.