‘Killing of Indian terrorist squad chief conspiracy’: Indian Minister

[Naveed Yaseen]

Storm in Lok Sabha over minister’s claim

* Red-faced Congress swiftly dissociates itself from statement, will seek explanation from Minority Affairs Minister AR Antulay

NEW DELHI: Indian Minority Affairs Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay has caused a storm in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and Thursday, suggesting that the killing of Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare in Mumbai during last month’s terror attacks was a conspiracy.

The minister said he was killed due to his leading role in the investigations of the 2006 Malegaon bombings that killed eight people outside a mosque and have been blamed on Hindu nationalists.

“Anyone trying to go to the roots of terror has always been a target,” he said, calling for a separate inquiry into Karkare’s death. “There is more than what meets the eye,” he said, adding that the top official went to Cama Hospital instead of the Taj and Oberoi hotels, and was wearing a ‘substandard’ bulletproof vest.

Creating five minutes of pandemonium as Antulay sat quietly, opposition legislators said they were not satisfied with his clarification in the House the previous day that he did doubt the terrorists had killed Karkare.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee tried in vain to pacify the agitated legislators, who continued to protest even after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vyalar Ravi intervened and assured them the government would look into the matter.

Congress: A red-faced Congress swiftly dissociated itself from the minister. “We don’t accept the inference and the innuendo that underline the statement (by Antulay)...We don’t agree with bringing this case under a cloud,” Times of India newspaper quoted a Congress spokesman as saying. Citing its sources in the party, it said the Congress would seek an explanation from the minister.

Statement: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would make a statement on Antulay’s remarks either today (Friday) or before the end of the Lok Sabha on December 23. iftikhar gilani/agencies/ daily times monitor

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2008_pg1_1