NEW DELHI, April 21: An Indian legislator on Monday alleged police were harassing Muslims in Gujarat state in connection with the murder last month of a Hindu politician.

“The Muslims are getting midnight knocks. Young boys are being arrested and tortured,” Rashid Alvi of the Bahujan Samaj Party told parliament, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The high-profile murder of the Gujarat politician, Haren Pandya, is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has arrested five Muslim men.

Mr Pandya, a former state home minister and a senior leader of right-wing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), was shot dead in broad daylight last month.

The CBI says the accused have connections with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, which New Delhi often accuses of fuelling militancy and creating unrest in India.

Mr Alvi said Muslims in Gujarat were living in fear and dread that they could be killed in fake police encounters, or arrested under a tough anti-terrorism law.

Last year up to 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in communal rioting in the state. It is ruled by the BJP, which also holds power in central government.

Earlier this year the negligible Christian minority in Gujarat had alleged harassment, accusing the government of carrying out a survey of the minorities. The government later withdrew the survey. —AFP