New Delhi: The CPI(M) on Saturday demanded immediate release of senior Gujarat police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, saying his arrest on "concocted" charges showed how the Narendra Modi government was trying to cover up its involvement in the 2002 communal incidents. The party Politburo maintained that Bhatt had "told the truth about the connivance of the Chief Minister and the state administration in the communal violence against the minorities in 2002" and filed an affidavit on the matter before the Supreme Court.
Condemning the arrest, the CPI(M) demanded that Bhatt be accorded protection to pursue the matters he has taken up before the judicial system. "The arrest of Bhatt on concocted charges is a telling commentary on how the Narendra Modi government is resorting to all coercive and illegal measures to cover up its role in the communal pogroms of 2002," the party said in a statement.
Bhatt was arrested after he was suspended and "other attempts (were made) to harass him", the CPI(M) said and demanded his immediate release.
PTI