Condemning the arrest of senior police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said it showed the working of the Gujarat Government, and demanded that he be released and given protection. The arrest came after the officer was placed under suspension and other attempts were made to harass him, the Polit Bureau said in a statement here. “Sanjiv 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. He had submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court in this regard.”
The arrest of Mr. 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 pogrom of 2002.”
Demanding his immediate release, the party said protection should be provided to Mr. Bhatt to enable him to pursue the judicial matters he had taken up.
