RAJKOT: Sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday by the Jamnagar sessions court in a custodial death case that goes back 29 years to 1990. Retired constable Pravinsinh Zala also got the same sentence after both were found guilty of torturing and murdering a 40-year-old man.Jamjodhpur resident Prabhudas Vaishnani was one of 133 people detained by police during the Bharat bandh call given ahead of BJP veteran LK Advani's rath yatra on October 30, 1990.Bhatt was the Jamnagar ASP at the time. After his release from detention, Vaishnani had died during treatment of severe kidney damage, on November 18 that year.In his complaint, Amrut Vaishnani had alleged that his brothers, Prabhudas and Ramesh, were tortured in police custody.Bhatt, a vocal critic of PM Narendra Modi , is currently in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati jail . He was arrested by CBI on September 5, 2018, in a drugs planting case of 1996, when he was the Banaskantha DSP.In the complaint, Amrut said his brothers were beaten with rifle butts, asked to crawl on their elbows and made to do sit-ups. They were not given water or medical attention. Prabhudas's kidney was damaged because of custodial torture, Amrut said in his complaint, adding Bhatt and other cops threatened them to not talk about the torture. CID Crime, which probed the case, had concluded that Prabhudas Vaishnani had died because of "inhuman torture".Bhatt has had a troubled relationship with the powers that be since 2011, when he filed an affidavit claiming he was present at a meeting at the residence of then Gujarat CM Modi on February 27, 2002 - the day on which the Godhra carnage took place. He had accused the state government of complicity and allowing rioters a free run. Bhatt's wife Shweta had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 assembly elections from Maninagar against Modi.Principal sessions and district judge DM Vyas asked Bhatt and Zala to also pay a fine of Rs 20,000.Five other policemen - sub-inspectors Deepak Shah and Shailesh Pandya and constables Pravinsinh Jethva, Anopsinh Jethva, Keshubha Jadeja - were found guilty of custodial torture and given a two-year jail term along with Rs 10,000 fine. The court, however, stayed the execution of its order for 30 days to allow the five cops to challenge the conviction in court.Talking to TOI, special public prosecutor Tushar Gokani said, "After the charges were framed in 2012, the accused policemen had approached Gujarat high court and Supreme Court. Last week, the SC had rejected Bhatt's plea to examine additional witnesses and observed these were just delaying tactics. The SC had directed the lower court to complete the trial by June 20."Gokani argued that Bhatt's role in custodial torture of the victim "was evident". The court examined 37 witnesses in the case.Amrut Vaishnani told reporters, "I feel this punishment is true homage to my bother. We are relieved to have received justice after 30 years of legal battle."