Jammu, Feb 12: A day
after he was questioned by NIA in connection with terror attacks in Kishtwar
district of Jammu and Kashmir, senior Congress leader and former minister G M
Saroori on Wednesday said he has "nothing to hide" and does not need
a certificate from anyone.
He strongly denied
having any connection with Mohammad Amin Bhat alias "Jehangir
Saroori", the longest-surviving terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen and the
brain behind the revival of terrorism in Kishtwar, declared free of terrorism
over a decade ago but rocked by four targeted killings since November 2018.
"He (Bhat) is
neither Saroori nor linked to my family. The NIA needs to probe the conspiracy
why Saroori was added to his codename after 2014 although previously he was
only known in police records by the alias Jehangir," the Congress vice
president and three-time legislator from Inderwal constituency of Kishtwar told
reporters here.
The 67-year-old leader
said the National Investigation Agency served him a notice under section 160
CrPC and has not made any allegations against him.
"The agency had
served this notice to over 300 persons and being a prominent public figure, I
too was called by it. I have nothing to hide and I have no issue to present
myself before the agency 10 times more," he said.
Saroori said he is
visiting the NIA office again on Wednesday to sign his statement.
Condemning the
circulation of "fabricated and baseless" stories about his alleged
terror links, he said he never faced an allegation in the past.
"The NIA
questioned me about Bhat... I do not know him and he is not related to my
family. In fact, he is not Saroori and he belongs to a village which falls in
Saroor panchayat, while my ancestral village is in Sarthal and we migrated to
Kishtwar town in 1992-93 during the peak of militancy in the region," he
said.
The Congress leader
said he has never seen Bhat in his life.
"I am a secular
leader affiliated with a secular party and a strong believer in the
Constitution of our country. I do not need a certificate from anyone. The
people of my area know me very well," he said, adding that he was among
the leaders who condemned terrorism unequivocally and worked for the unity and
integrity during his long political career.
He also demanded a
thorough probe into past communal riots in the district by NIA.
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