Row over Bihar police letter seeking info on functionaries of RSS and affiliates

A Bihar police letter to its district officials asking them to gather information on functionaries of the RSS and its affiliates has raised hackles of the state BJP which questioned the "surveillance", but the police claimed the step was taken due to inputs about threat to life of members of saffron outfits.

The letter dated May 28 issued by the special branch had directed that a report on name, address, telephone number and occupation of district-level office bearers of 19 Sangh Parivar outfits be submitted within a week.

J S Gangwar, Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch), said the manner in which the letter has been worded has been found "objectionable" and an explanation has been sought from the officer of SP rank who drafted it.

His remarks came as several BJP leaders reacted with indignation to the letter and some of them even questioned the intentions of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, bringing to fore the unease in the party's ties with ally JD(U)
BJP MLA and state vice-president Mithilesh Tiwari said, "If information is being gathered as part of some routine procedure then I have no problems. But if it was being done with any ulterior motive, then I have strong objections."