INDIA'S ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which found itself troubled by the news that one of the two most-wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists captured in Reasi district of the northern Indian union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday (3) was in charge of the party’s minority information technology (IT) cell in the past, refuted the allegation the same day. The social media was not convinced though.
Ravinder Raina, the president of the BJP unit of Jammu and Kashmir said Talib Hussain Shah, the LeT terrorist in question, “was neither an active member nor a primary member of the BJP”, the Hindustan Times reported.
“Talib Hussain Shah visited the BJP headquarters in Jammu many times as a reporter along with his cameraman and took my interviews in the past. He used to be accompanied by a couple of men,” Raina was quoted as saying by the Times. “He doesn’t have any membership in the official records of the BJP. Moreover, he was arrested by locals and police. Though the entire matter is being investigated, prima facie it seems that he conducted a recce at the BJP office and mine also.”
“Some pictures have been recovered from his mobile, which are being looked into by police and intelligence agencies. It appears he was planning a big terror attack on the BJP office,” said Raina.
The saffron party, which is known for its pro-Hindutva politics, said the allegation was worrying as implicating it falsely became a new modus operandi for terror outfits based in Pakistan.
The J&K BJP unit called the reports about Shah’s membership of the saffron party as fake. Shah and his associate Faisal Ahmad Dar were overpowered by the local people and handed over to the police. The party of prime minister Narendra Modi said it is Ishant Gupta who has been holding the post of the BJP’s IT cell in-charge for three years now.
“This news is fake. He was not the BJP's IT Cell Incharge. Ishant Gupta is BJP IT cell Incharge from last 3 years and before that Jaidev Rajwal was BJP's IT Cell Incharge J & K,” the UT’s BJP said in a tweet.
The UT police said the terrorist duo had reached Tukson Dhok village to take shelter as the security personnel have tightened security in the area. While Shah hails from Rajouri, Dar is from Pulwama. The police recovered arms and ammunition from the duo. Shah has been announced an absconder in the past and a bounty was announced on him.
According to the lawkeepers, Shah was in constant touch with LeT terrorist Qasim in Pakistan and was involved in at least three cases blasts in Rajouri district besides killing of civilians and grenade blasts.
Twitter though did not stop reacting to the incident despite the BJP's defence. Some opposition leaders also slammed the BJP over the matter. Senior Indian Left leader Sitaram Yechury called it "a very serious case" and sought an impartial state action.
Here are some reactions:
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