The BJP on Friday demanded that the home ministry should come clean on the issue of Ishrat Jahan’s alleged terror links as agencies like the IB, CBI and NIA have differences over it. The party had charged that the CBI wants to frame Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the encounter case as the ruling Congress wants to “gain political mileage”.
Supporting senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s demand that the home ministry comes clean on the issue, BJP’s Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Digvijay Singh has raised some very important questions and said CBI, IB and NIA are speaking in different voices on the Ishrat Jahan encounter in reference to what LeT operative David Headley said or did not say. He has asked the home ministry to clarify. BJP underlines that this clarification is very much needed.”
The BJP, which for once was on the same page as Mr Singh, asked the PMO to break its silence on the issue. Ms Sitharaman said the home ministry should also clarify why there was a need to change the 2007 affidavit in 2009, what were the reasons and at whose instructions this was done.
“The CBI chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan case raises more eyebrows. Is it based on the inputs given to CBI by the home ministry or based on evidence collected by the agency? Is CBI collecting evidence and filing the chargesheet on its basis or on inputs from the home ministry?” Ms Sitharaman asked.