By Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: Opposition leaders in Bihar have criticized Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allowing ATS teams of other states to pick local Muslim youths in illegal way and implicate them in terror cases. They said that the way ATS officials entre Bihar, pick youths and speed away and the state government has no information exposes the weak intelligence structure of the state. They asked Nitish to take steps to prevent such illegal arrests.
“ATS sleuths come as criminals and kidnap youths. First they were picking youths from Darbhanga and Madhubani and now they are killing them in custody. There is JDU government in Bihar. Chief Minister should take step to prevent such arrests,” said Ghulam Ghaus, Opposition Leader in Bihar’s Legislative Council.
“The state government tries to clear its hand by saying they have no prior information, but this highlights the weak intelligence system of the government. It means any national or international criminal gang can do any crime in the state and the government will have no information,” Ghaus said while talking to TCN at Patna Airport on Saturday. He had come from Delhi in the same flight in which the body of Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui was brought from Mumbai.
Body was in a coffin
RJD leader Ghaus condemned the killing of Qateel in the judicial custody and demanded a CBI probe. He also demanded compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the bereaved family.
He alleged that the Nitish government is silent over the issue only to please alliance partner BJP and Sangh Parivar.
Family members of Qateel waiting at Patna airport for the arrival of the body.
Member of Parliament from Bihar, Ram Kirpal Yadav also cornered Nitish over picking of youths from Bihar in terror cases. “You are picking innocents and implicating them in terror cases. So far 14-15 people have been picked from Bihar. Now one of those youths has been killed in Pune Jail. This has terrified Muslims in Bihar. The state government should come out and take steps to prevent such arrests,” Yadav, also from RJD, said.
Ram Kirpal Yadav (left) and Ghulam Ghaus with relatives of Qateel Siddiqui at Patna Airport on 11th June 2012
Reacting over the killing of Qateel in Pune jail, he said: “It’s an unfortunate incident. The youth was in custody for several months, he was not yet charge sheeted, and he was killed in jail.”
He said the family was not even informed about the death. They came to know about it from TV channels.
He wondered over the way Qateel was killed and demanded a CBI probe.
Yadav demanded the state government of Nitish Kumar to take immediate steps to stop such arrests from Bihar.