Live: Cong, BJP fight over reports of LeT men in Muzaffarnagar

2.51 pm: Cong, BJP fight over reports of LeT men in Muzaffarnagar

Amid reports that suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists had approached Muzaffarnagar riot victims to recruit men to their module, Congress today said it has proved right Rahul Gandhi's assertions that Pakistan's ISI was working to lure the riot-hit while BJP asked the government to explain facts of the "LeT operation".

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said the report has lent credence to 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 refugees, then it proves right what Gandhi had said," Singh told reporters.

According to a media report, two Haryana clerics arrested last month for their suspected links to Lashkar-e-Toiba, and another LeT operative, had allegedly visited Muzaffarnagar relief camps and sought to recruit men to their module.

Targeting 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, 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 own. 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.

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.

Delhi Police should do what it should but let there be no politics over it, he said.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said such attempts by terror outfits was not a new thing.

"Pakistan's ISI and India's bhajpayees (BJP) rejoice whenever there is communal trouble in India. ISI wants money from Muslims countries in the name of helping Muslims of India. So they earn money. Whenever there is communal disturbance, BJP gets vote," he charged.

Both ISI and BJP are on the same page as far as creating communal trouble in this country is concerned, he alleged.

Though Rahul Gandhi's remark on Muzaffarnagar riot victims was criticised, it was a true statement, he said.

BJP President Rajnath Singh said the whole issue should be thoroughly probed with all the seriousness the matter deserves.

1:55 pm: Delhi Police says LeT didn't contact Muzaffarnagar riot victims

The Delhi Police says that they had registered a case after getting intelligence inputs and during the course of investigations had arrested two individuals.

He said that two individuals from Muzaffarnagar, identified as Zameer and Liyaqat, had met with the accused and had been told to carry out kidnappings in order to raise money to build a mosque.

"I want to clarify that Liyaqat and Zameer are not Muzaffarnagar riot victims. They live in the area but are not riot victims," SN Srivastava from the Delhi Special Cell said.

He said that the statements of the two youth had been recorded before the magistrate and said that he was not aware if the kidnapping and other crimes were planned to avenge the communal riots in some way.

1:15 pm: Manish Tewari says parties should introspect

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has said that parties propagating communalism should introspect in light of the revelations by the Delhi Police. He also took a moment to defend Rahul Gandhi.

"I don't think that whatever the honourable Congress vice president said needs any substantiation by any investigative agency. The fact is when you have a polarised environment, when you have a breakdown of communal harmony, forces which are inimical to India do try to fish in troubled waters," he said.

Unfortunately the core question remains over why Intelligence Bureau officials were briefing the Congress Vice President despite him holding no official position. Gandhi has chosen to dodge the topic completely after talking about it during election rallies and even the BJP seems restrained its

12:45 pm: Uttar Pradesh official says they weren't told anything

Times Now reports that the Uttar Pradesh police has already dismissed the claims by their Delhi counterparts and has said that there was no attempt made to recruit youth from the Muzaffarnagar relief camps.

12:00 pm: Samajwadi Party says they are willing to investigate Delhi Police claims

The Samajwadi Party says that the report if true shouldn't be politicised and says they will investigate any allegations that the Delhi Police forwards them.

"A criminal is a criminal. If there are criminals there then Delhi Police should take action, it should not be politicised," party MP and senior leader Naresh Aggarwal said.

"If the Delhi Police gives information to the UP government then we will definitely investigate the matter," he said.

How believable the Delhi Police's claims are, however, will only be known after a court of law hears the matter.

11:45 am: Give Rahul Gandhi credit, says Digvijaya Singh

Representational image. PTI

If Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is to be believed we need to be giving Rahul Gandhi credit for his skills on knowing what is happening in Muzaffarnagar.

"If it is true that the LeT has elements in the Muzaffarnagar relief camps and are recruiting and indoctrinating people, then it supports what Rahul Gandhi said weeks back. He should be given credit for his statement," Singh told reporters.

11:30 am: BJP says Central government should clarify

"This is a serious security lapse. The UP government and home ministry should clarify on this issue," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told ANI. 

Incidentally, the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had mocked the Congress leader for his claim and said that the claim was one that was spread by an IPS official seeking a ticket from the party.

11:00 am: Delhi Police find Muzaffarnagar residents who verify Rahul Gandhi's claims

Nearly three months after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi courted controversy after claiming that Intelligence officers had told him about Pakistan's ISI trying to recruit angry Muslim youth from Muzaffarnagar, a group of men living in the riot-hit district's relief camps have reportedly told investigators that two imams had approached them to join a Lashkar-e-Toiba module.

The two clerics were arrested last month in Haryana. The men they approached reportedly turned witnesses and have given statements against them, according to The Indian Express.

The men, who recorded their statements in front of a magistrate in Patiala court in Delhi on Monday, are residents of relief camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.

"They are believed to have told investigators that the two imams from Mewat -- Hafeez Rashidi and Shahid -- allegedly made numerous visits along with a senior LeT operative, currently on the run," according to the report.

The men have reportedly told investigators that the clerics tried to radicalise them and were offered a good lifestyle and money for their families in return.

The two imams are reportedly linked to top Lashkar man Javed Baluchi.

The relief camps of Muzaffarnagar have remained a deeply politicised issue with the state government now standing accused of being unable not only to handle the growing humanitarian crisis in the camps where about 4,000 people still live but also of playing politics on which villages the victims would return to. Over 60 people were killed in the Muzaffarnagar riots that broke out in August last year.