New Delhi, July 31 (IANS): The CPI-M on Sunday blamed the Narendra Modi government for the rising number of attacks by so-called cow vigilantes on Dalits and minorities.

"After the lynching of Mohd Akhlaq in Dadri (in Uttar Pradesh), several incidents of such cow vigilante groups attacking Dalits and people from the minority community have been reported from various parts of the country including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh," the CPI-M said.

"Shockingly, in all these incidents the police and administration have remained mute spectators and at times even aiding the culprits and lodging cases against the victims of these attacks.

"There has been an increase in the attacks on Dalits ever since this BJP government assumed office at the Centre," the Communist Party of India-Marxist said at the end of a two-day meeting of its Politburo here.

"The BJP-led government at the Centre is not only contributing to the alarming increase in the number of such incidents but is also sharply escalating communal polarization, attacks against Dalits and women," it said.