BJP seeks probe over LeT in Muzzafarnagar

BJP Tuesday sought a probe in the revelation that terror outfit LeT tried to recruit youth from Uttar Pradesh's riot hit Muzzafarnagar district.

The Congress said it only reinforced what Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had earlier said, while the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that the issue be taken seriously.

"The issue should be probed and taken very seriously," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh said Tuesday.

The statement came after news reports claimed suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists approached Muzaffarnagar riot victims to recruit men.

The men, whose statements have been recorded, are residents of relief camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. They are believed to have told investigators that two Imams from Mewat - Hafeez Rashid and Shahid - allegedly made numerous visits along with a senior LeT operative, currently on the run, according to the report.

Congress' Digvijaya Singh said it reinforced Rahul Gandhi's statement.

"What Rahul Gandhi had said about terrorist groups trying to recruit the Muzaffarnagar riot victims is true and has been reinforced. It is important to understand that there is fundamentalism whether it be a Hindu or a Muslims. Since it is a threat to the country so everybody has to fight against it collectively," Digvijaya Singh told reporters.

Rahul Gandhi, in a rally before the recent assembly polls, said he received intelligence report of terror outfits approaching Muslim youth in riot hit areas of Uttar Pradesh.

BJP attacked Gandhi for his comments, questioning how intelligence inputs were shared with him though he was not a part of the government.

"Who gave information to whom... the facts that have been revealed need to be probed," Rajnath Singh added.

Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said suitable measures should be taken so that any conspiracy from across the border can be tackled.

"On the whole issue of conspiracy, particularly the challenge from across the border, the entire attitude of the government of India has been very indifferent, at great cost to the country," Prasad said.