Leaders of 10 Opposition parties, including three chief ministers, on Tuesday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to direct the Narendra Modi government to act against those responsible for “foisting false cases” on Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who died in custody on Monday.

Besides acting against the people who foisted the cases on Fr Stan, the Opposition leaders also want the government to take action against those party to his continued detention and inhuman treatment.

“They must be held accountable. It is now incumbent that all those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case and other detenues under politically motivated cases, misusing draconian laws like UAPA, sedition, etc, be released forthwith,’’ said the joint letter by Opposition leaders to the President.

According to the letter, Fr Stan was denied treatment for his various ailments, including the debilitating Parkinson’s disease. Detailing the various stages of his deteriorating health when he was denied treatment, the Opposition leaders sought the President’s immediate intervention in ensuring action against those responsible for his death in custody.

The signatories to the joint letter are Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister and JDS leader H.D. Deve Gowda, chief ministers of Bengal, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu — Mamata Banerjee, Hemant Soren and M.K. Stalin — respectively, Sharad Pawar of the NCP, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav of the RJD, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and CPI’s D. Raja.