Claiming that Jesuit priest Stan Swamy was arrested in the Elgar Parishad case without any evidence, a legislator in Maharashtra on Tuesday demanded that the state government make a statement on the issue.

Swamy, 84, died at a Mumbai hospital on Monday while waiting for bail on medical grounds. "Towards the end of his life, he had to languish in jail and after the court's intervention he received treatment but it was too late," said Kapil Patil, an independent member, in the Legislative Council.