Congress writes to EC, seeks BJP apology over 'unverified' claims on Imran Masood

Asserting that the allegations against its Saharanpur candidate Imran Masood were "unverified and distorted", Congress's legal cell chief K C Mittal has sought action against BJP and urged the Election Commission (EC) to direct the saffron party to tender a public apology.

"On 28th March, 2014 no such statement was delivered on the basis of which they (Bharatiya Janata Party) have complained to the Election Commission. This is false. A strict action should be taken against it," said Mittal.

Mittal said that BJP had violated the model code of conduct provisions by making false, distorted and unverified statements in public domain.

"There is one photograph in which a person is standing beside Imran Masood, who has been identified as Sher Singh. But, Sher Singh is dead. We also possess his death certificate. It has been a long time since he died. It means that Bharatiya Janata Party has distorted the reality and registered a complaint to the election commission," he added.

However, Chief Election Commissioner, V.S. Sampath, said that the action against Masood will be taken according to the law.

"The Election Commission will take action per law. Already an FIR has been filed in connection with the speech. He has also been arrested, we are examining what more can be done," said Sampath.

Masood, 40, was arrested on the basis of a video clipping that went viral on the web. The clipping showed threatening to "chop BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to pieces", igniting a new political controversy prior to next month's general election.

He is now facing criminal charges for his hate speech, though he maintains that he never threatened to kill Modi, but only to teach him a lesson.

A First Information Report (FIR) accuses him of violating the Model Code of Conduct, but it is not clear when and where the comments were made. Local police said they received the video CD on Thursday.

Masood claims he spoke those words eight months ago, when he was with the Samajwadi Party.