New Delhi: The Delhi Police today said two imams arrested for alleged links to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba tried to recruit men in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Senior Delhi Police officer SN Srivastav said two men from Muzaffarnagar have revealed they were approached by the arrested imams or Muslim clerics, Mohd Rashid and Mohd Shahid, for a kidnapping plot, and were said that the ransom money could be used to build a mosque.
Liyaqat, a teacher with the Uttar Pradesh education department, and Zameer, a petty criminal who sometimes took on mosque building work, have deposed before a magistrate in Delhi, which makes their statement admissible in court.
Rashid and Shahid reportedly made five to six visits to Muzaffarnagar and its neighbouring areas after the September communal clashes which killed nearly 60 people and left 40,000 displaced. They were arrested last month from Mewat in Haryana following inputs from the Intelligence Bureau on terror modules working in Muzaffarnagar and its neighbouring district Shamli.
“When Liyaqat and Zameer met the terror suspects, Zameer told them that he builds mosques with the help of donations. When they suggested kidnappings to raise more money, Zameer distanced himself,” Mr Srivastav said.
The Delhi Police revelation added a new twist to the political controversy that unfolded after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s comments at a rally in October that an intelligence officer had told him about the Pakistani ISI trying to recruit young men whose families suffered in the Muzaffarnagar riots.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said, if this is correct, that some people of LeT went to Muzaffarnagar to encourage riot victims then what Rahul Gandhi said was true. Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Samajwadi Party accused the Congress of politicizing the terror arrests.
Bureau Report
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