Colleagues back Sanjiv Bhatt

The move by the association marks the first time that it has taken a strong stand against Modi. A late night meeting on Saturday was convened by the association in which the resolution supporting Bhatt’s family was passed. Later, three senior IPS officers, Atul Karwal, Pravin Sinha and V M Pargi called on Shweta Bhatt, the wife of the arrested officer, to apprise her about the association resolution.

Sources said some of the association members were upset at the treatment meted out by the state government to a fellow officer. “We are not going into the merits of the case, whether he is right or wrong. But the way he was treated, arrested and then put up in the worst cell of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch is something not acceptable,” commented an association member.

State Director-General of Police Chitranjan Singh, however, chose to downplay the development. “The resolution is not against anyone,” quipped Singh.

Sources, however, said the resolution has also created a division within the association as well. A top police officer told Deccan Herald that some officers were not in favour of the resolution.