Gujarat ATS arrests suspended Police Inspector Taral Bhatt

Junagadh: The Anti-Terror Squad of Gujarat Police has arrested the absconding Police Inspector Taral Bhatt, who is one of the three cops accused in an extortion case. The accused cop has been apprehended around Ahmedabad district.

It was learned earlier that he had fled the country, but on Thursday, the suspended PI applied for anticipatory bail at the Junagadh sessions court, whose hearing will be held today. Later, the ATS searched Taral Bhatt’s house and questioned the people linked with the accused. After repeated questioning, the accused cop was nabbed at around 10:30 pm on Thursday.

Last week, the ‘B’ Division police in Junagadh registered a case against three policemen for attempting to extort Rs 25 lakh from a Kerala resident in exchange for unfreezing his bank account.

The First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Police Inspector Taral Bhatt, Junagadh SOG Cyber Crime Cell Inspector A. M. Gohil, and ASI Dipak Jani after an internal probe revealed that the accused trio had frozen approximately 335 bank accounts under the pretext of an investigation.

The accused officers have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 167, 465, 385, 120b, and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The complaint was filed by Inspector S. N. Gohil, working at the office of Inspector General (IG) of Junagadh Range, Nilesh Jajadia.

According to the case details, Kartik Bhandari from Kerala found out in December 2023 that his bank account had been frozen by the Junagadh police’s Cyber Crime Cell. Upon approaching officials Jani and A. M. Gohil, they demanded a bribe of Rs 25 lakh, citing ‘secret inputs from the Enforcement Directorate.’ Later, following legal advice, Bhandari contacted the Range IG and applied to unfreeze his account. IG Jajadia instructed Inspector S. N. Gohil to conduct an inquiry.

The investigation revealed that Inspector Taral Bhatt had instructed A. M. Gohil to freeze several bank accounts under the pretext of suspicious transactions. As directed by Bhatt, A. M. Gohil and Jani issued letters to banks to freeze 335 accounts between August and November 2023.”