JOIN USDigvijaya says Telangana Police run fake IS site
Days after being divested of charge of Karnataka and Goa, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday kicked up a storm by claiming that the Telangana Police were running a fake IS website to radicalise Muslim youth.
“The police have set up a bogus IS site which is radicalising Muslim youth and encouraging them to become IS Modules,” Singh, AICC General Secretary in-charge of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, said in a series of posts on Twitter.
He sought to link these modules to the train blasts in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh in March, claiming that the Telangana Police had tipped off their Madhya Pradesh counterparts on the alleged perpetrators.
Singh’s remarks drew instant denial from Telangana minister K T Rama Rao. Even the Congress distanced itself from the remarks. “I have seen neither the website nor the statement. Digvijaya Singh can explain his remarks,” AICC’s senior spokesman Anand Sharma said.
Rao dared the Congress leader to provide evidence to back his claims or withdraw the comments unconditionally. “Most irresponsible and reprehensible thing, coming from a former chief minister. We demand that he tender an unconditional apology to Telangana Police or provide evidence,” Rao told reporters here.
I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu condemned Singh’s statement. “It is a bizarre statement on Telangana Police. It is a serious allegation; he must either substantiate or apologise,” Naidu said.
Telangana Director General Of Police Anurag Sharma said “unfounded allegations from a senior, responsible leader will lower the morale and image of police engaged in fighting anti-national forces.”
Unruffled by the controversy, Singh later told reporters that he stood by his statement and his sources had told him that the issue did figure at a meeting of central officials and state police officers.
“I want to ask KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao) — didn’t this issue come up during an anti-terror meeting convened by the Centre last week,” he asked on the sidelines of a function here.
“The issue is whether Telangana Police should be trapping Muslim youth in becoming IS modules by posting inflammatory information? Is It Ethical? Is it Moral? Has KCR authorised Telangana Police to trap Muslim youths and encourage them to join ISIS,” Singh tweeted.