The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the arrest of Sanjiv Bhatt, senior police official in Gujarat. This arrest has come after the suspension served on the officer and other attempts to harass him.

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 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 Polit Bureau demands the immediate release of Bhatt. Protection should be accorded to him to pursue the matters he has taken up before the judicial system.