New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday denounced the police action against yoga guru Baba Ramdev as "both deplorable and shortsighted".

Alleging that scores of men and women had been injured, some seriously, the CPI-M said: "There was no law and order issue involved, and the police action was unwarranted."

Police cracked down on Ramdev and his supporters at Delhi's Ramlila ground after midnight Saturday, less than 24 hours after the yoga guru went on a hunger strike against corruption.

But the CPI-M found fault with both the government and Ramdev for trying to reach a secret pact on his demands.

"The manner in which Ramdev's demands were drafted and the way in which he has conducted his interactions with the government, coming to a secret agreement to withdraw the hunger strike on the basis of assurances, then reneging and announcing its extension trivialised the seriousness of the issue of black money and made it farcical," the statement said.

"Clearly the backstage deal between the government and Ramdev fell apart but this brings little credit to either party and indeed raises question about the credibility of both.

"The presence of communal elements on Ramdev's stage also showed up his essential ideological bias."

The CPI-M said the elimination of black money and the need to repatriate the illegitimate money holdings of Indian citizens in foreign countries was a matter of the utmost gravity and legitimate public concern.

"The CPI-M reiterates its demand for the immediate repatriation of the money illegally kept abroad. It demands that the names of those involved should be made public and that the government take urgent and necessary legal steps in this direction."