A political war has erupted over reports that suspected lashkar-e-Tayyeba terrorists had approached Muzaffarnagar riot victims in order to recruit them. While the Congress said it has proved right Rahul Gandhi’s assertions that Pakistan’s ISI was working to lure the riot-hit people, Delhi Police’s Special Cell and Home Ministry were quick to clarify that the persons contacted by lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) men were neither riot victims nor involved in the communal violence.
The BJP targeted both the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government over the arrest of the leT men and said it showed how well-entrenched the leT and other such outfits supported and funded by Pakistan were in UP and elsewhere.
In turn, the Samajwadi Party hit back both at the Congress and the BJP. SP leader Naresh Agarwal said Muzaffarnagar had become a “political pawn” for many parties but added that he was not aware of the facts of the case. He accused the BJP of thriving on the politics of communal disharmony. Another SP leader Azam Khan took a dig at the Congress and said since Rahul Gandhi had first made the claims about leT luring riot victims, he should also be questioned.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police claimed that two suspected leT operatives, Mohammed Shahid and Mohammed Rashid, had met two persons in Muzaffarnagar district in Western UP. Special Commissioner of Delhi Police (Special Cell) SN Shrivastava said that Shahid and Rashid were residents of Mewat region in Haryana. “After interrogating and checking their background, we came to know that they had met liyaqat and Zameer, two residents of Muzaffarnagar a few weeks ago,” he added.
The Special Cell had claimed last month that with the arrest of these two suspected operatives, it had busted a terror module of the leT which was in an advanced stage of planning a terrorist strike in Delhi. “We came to know that they were in contact with some people living in Muzaffarnagar region. When we asked them about this, they told us that Rashid along with another man, whom I cannot name right now, had gone to Deoband.
On the way back, they called one liyaqat who was already known to them and told him that they would spend the night in his house and take a train to Palwal, Mewat in the morning," Shrivastava said. During interrogation, they revealed that liyaqat (58), who works with the UP Education Department, took them to Thana Bhavan Railway Station. "He then called a friend, identified as Zameer. After this the duo came back to Mewat."
A man, whose identity the police is not revealing, then told Zameer that he wanted to build a mosque for which he needed money and suggested that they could carry out a kidnapping for ransom and the money would be used to build the mosque and carry out other activities. They then met Zameer twice in Delhi and tried to persuade him to arrange some men, who could carry out the kidnapping. However, when Zameer realised that they were indulging in illegal activities, he backed out and severed all contacts with them, the Special CP said.
However, the Special Cell clarified that both liyaqat and Zameer are not riot victims. "I would like to make it very clear that both liyaqat and Zameer are not victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots, they have nothing to do with them. Although they live in Muzaffarnagar, they are not riot victims," Shrivastava said. Police have produced both liyaqat and Zameer before the city court and got their statements recorded under Section 161 CrPC and 164 CrPC. They will cite them as witnesses so that they have a strong case against the lashkar operatives.
Asked whether Zameer was told that the money would also be used to avenge Muzaffarnagar riots, Shrivastava said: "It is a one-sided statement right now and unless we verify it, make more arrests, we will not give any statement in the case." The Centre also said there was no link between Pakistan's ISI and Muslim youth who were victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots, but agreed with Delhi Police's statement that the two suspected leT operatives had met two persons in the area.
"There is no evidence or Intelligence inputs that suggest that the ISI had approached riot victims," a senior Home Ministry official said. Despite the clarification by the police, the day saw massive politicking over the issue. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said the report has lent credence to Rahul Gandhi's remarks on riot victims at an election rally in October last, which had invited flak from Opposition parties. "If this information is correct that some people from leT had gone to relief camps to lure the riot victims, then it proves right what Gandhi had said," Singh told reporters.
Targeting the BJP, Union Minister Manish Tewari said: "Those who believe in the politics of polarisation, who believe in the politics of communalism should become cognizant of the damage which they do to the idea of India". However, the BJP demanded that the Home Minister explain the "facts", terming the present situation as "unacceptable." "This shows how well-entrenched the network of leT and other such outfits supported and funded by Pakistan are in UP...What action they have taken on their ownIJ It is a national issue. Nobody is nabbed, nobody is traced. This is unacceptable," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
Now the UP Government and the Centre must answer, he said, adding the BJP had sought to know from the Centre as to what action it had taken on its own after Gandhi had spoken about it.