I have never used the word saffron terror: Shivraj Patil

Hours after a special NIA court at Nampally in Hyderabad acquitted five accused, including Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, in the Mecca Masjid bomb blasts case, former Union home minister Shivraj Patil said that he never used the word saffron terror or Hindu terror.

"Does the chargesheet say these words (saffron terror or Hindu terror)....have I ever used it...it is a case of terrorism," said Patil, who was the Union home minister from May 2004-November 2008 in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

When it was pointed out that Congress leaders like — former Union home ministers — P Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh — have made such statements, he said, "You should not address this question to me....who must ask whosoever has said."