Digvijaya says Telangana cops encourage Muslims to join IS, ignites controversy

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Monday triggered a controversy alleging that the Telangana police were trapping Muslim youth by encouraging them to join Islamic State.

In a series of tweets, Singh, who is the Congress in charge of Telangana and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, alleged that the police in the southern state had set up a bogus ISIS site and were posting inflammatory information to trap young Muslim men.

“It was on their information that MP (Madhya Pradesh) police arrested accused who were responsible for the bomb blast in a train at Shajapur district of MP. It also resulted in Saifullaha encounter in Kanpur the same day,” he said.

The senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister was talking about a suspected IS man who was killed in an anti-terror operation in Lucknow in early March.

Singh, who was on Saturday relieved of Karnataka and Goa charge for his inept handling of party units, questioned if Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had authorised his police to ensnare Muslim youth. It is not clear what brought about the outburst from the Congress leader who addressed a public meeting in Telangana’s Warangal district on Sunday.

“Is it ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR authorised Telangana Police to trap Muslim Youths and encourage them to join ISIS?” he tweeted, referring to the terror group by its other name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Rao should order an investigation and punish those responsible for the “heinous crime” and if police were following his orders, he should take responsibility and resign, he said. Telangana minister for information technology and industries KT Rama Rao, who is the chief minister’s son, demanded that the Congress leader withdraw his comments unconditionally.

“Most irresponsible & reprehensible thing coming from a former CM. Request you to withdraw these comments unconditionally or provide evidence,” he tweeted.