By IANS,
Lucknow : Hemant Karkare, chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad who was killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, arrested “both Hindu and Muslim terrorists and criminals”, Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Digvijay Singh said Saturday, adding “we salute his bravery”.
“During my term as the chief minister of MP (Madhya Pradesh), I not only banned the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) but also proposed to ban Bajrang Dal,” Singh said while addressing a gathering of about 20,000 people at a rally in Azamgarh district Saturday afternoon.
Singh called Hemant Karkare an honest officer.
Karkare was shot dead during the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attack in which about 170 people were killed.
“Karkare, during his line of duty, arrested both Hindu and Muslim terrorists and criminals and we salute his bravery,” Singh said.
“We would also like to say sorry to the Muslim community for the demolition of the Babri Masjid and would like to ensure that such incidents will not be repeated,” he added.
“It is only because of a few misguided youths that the district (Azamgarh) is being tainted and I respect the youths of the city very much,” said Singh.
This was the second rally by any political party after two youths of Azamgarh district’s Sanjarpur village, Sajid and Atif, were killed in a police shootout in New Delhi in September. They were suspected to be involved in the Sep 13 blasts in the national capital.
Over a dozen youths from Azamgarh were also picked up by the police for their alleged involvement in the serial blasts earlier this year in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bangalore.
On Oct 24, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and SP general secretary Amar Singh held a public rally in Daudpur village of Azamgarh, 270 km from here.