BJP disowns militant Talib, Congress calls for interrogation of party leaders

JAMMU — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday denied any link with the arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant, Talib Hussain Shah, who, the opposition parties alleged is a member of the party’s minority cell.

According to the news agency Kashmir News Observer, the party’s state unit spokesperson, Advocate Abhinav Sharma today clarified that Talib Hussain Shah was never officially appointed by the party after surfacing of photographs of the arrested militant with senior BJP leaders including Jammu and Kashmir unit President Ravinder Raina.

“There is no record of appointment of Talib Hussain Shah in our office. Someone may have given him responsibility on his own, but the party did never own him,” said Abhinav Sharma, while addressing the media.

The photographs of the arrested militants with senior BJP leaders have gone viral on social media since Sunday morning when he was apprehended by Reasi villagers along with another militant.

Meanwhile, coming down heavily on BJP, Jammu Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) demanded the interrogation of BJP leaders for appointing a ‘terrorist’ as a party member.

“BJP used to issue certificates of nationalism to others, now this so-called nationalist party is appointing terrorists,” said Ravinder Sharma, JKPCC chief spokesman.