Sonia, Rahul should apologise after Headley's disclosure: BJP

The BJP on Thursday demanded that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi appologise after Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley said Ishrat Jahan was a member of the terror outfit.

"These Congress leaders should apologise to the nation and to the heroes who killed LeT terrorist Ishrat Jahan and her three accomplices," BJP leader Shrikant Sharma said here.

Ishrat Jahan was allegedly killed in a staged gun battle on June 15, 2004, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in Gujarat with Deputy Inspector General D.G. Vanzara, who was later jailed in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh case, leading the police team.

"Instead of praising the brave policemen, questions were raised on their sincerity and they were put behind bars by the then Congress government. Now the mask has come off their faces," he added.

Sharma said the Congress hatched a conspiracy and tried to politicise terror in order to defame the Bharatiya Janata Party and the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

"The previous UPA government at the centre questioned the police action and politicised it instead of appreciating the police for killing them. It was a hate conspiracy against the BJP leaders and the Headley's claim has exposed the people who objected to the encounter," the BJP leader said.

He also alleged that the Congress leadership tried to influence the National Investigative Agency and Central Bureau of Investigation probes into the encounter.

"Several investigative agencies and officers also termed Ishrat Jahan a terrorist but the then UPA government ignored the fact and misused investigative agencies to link Modi and the BJP with the episode," he said.

Earlier, the Congress on Thursday questioned attempts to use Headley's court testimony to justify the "fake" Ishrat Jahan encounter which it said were "not permissible by law".