Calcutta, Sept. 27: The CPM and its allies may have differences on how to tackle Maoists but they spoke in one voice defending the police officers’ disguise as journalists while arresting Chhatradhar Mahato.

Senior CPM leader Rabin Deb parried the question of the ethics of the officers who posed as journalists from Singapore and befriended local scribes to catch Mahato when the journalists were present. Instead, he blamed the journalists.

“The government is yet to come out on how Mahato was arrested and whether the police misled journalists or used them as a source. But a section of journalists has identified itself with the Maoists. How could they meet Maoist leaders and Mahato when the police had been hunting for them and had failed to catch them?” Deb asked.

The allies were more direct in defending the police.

“The end justifies the means. The police always try to zero in on culprits under disguise. What if the godmen and beggars now complain the police undermine their professional credibility and security by posing as one of them?” asked Kshiti Goswami, the RSP leader and PWD minister.

He blamed journalists for for taking security risks to outdo each other. “Journalists should be cautious about traps laid for them as they themselves are responsible for their security,” he said.

Forward Bloc veteran Asoke Ghosh said the police’s disguise was part of the job . “I don’t know whether the police had informed the chief minister about ensnaring Mahato using journalists. The police don’t care about ethics while gathering intelligence and have moles in every party, including the CPM,’’ he said.

“What if the Maoists now take some journalists hostage as they did with two policemen after Mahato’s arrest?”

In a letter to Union home minister P. Chidambaram and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Press Club of Calcutta “condemned” the police’s disguise as journalists, saying it had :lowered the dignity of the profession”.

The CPM’s allies defended the arrest of Mahato. Goswami said the arrest was aimed to make the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities “leaderless”.

But the partners hinted that they had reservations about the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) being slapped against him. It is the central act under which the CPI (Maoist) has been banned.

“The chief minister said the UAPA would be used after consulting allies. If Mahato has been charged as a Maoist, we will probe the matter,’’ Ghosh said.