Mulayam to raise Jamia encounter issue in UPA-SP meet: Amar Singh

Amar SinghNew Delhi, Oct. 8 : Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday said that party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav would raise the demand for a judicial probe into the Jamia Nagar encounter when the Samajwadi Party meets the UPA leadership next week.

Talking to reporters after meeting the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh here, Singh said: "I raised the issue for a judicial probe with the PM. But as I was not assured anything on it, my party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will raise the issue during the UPA-SP coordination committee meeting likely on October 14."

Singh claimed that the Samajwadi Party is concerned about the sense of insecurity gripping the minority community after the Jamia Nagar encounter.

"The attacks on Muslims in Assam and violence against them in Maharashtra has created a sense of insecurity... the SP is concerned about it," he said.

Singh had an hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister in the presence of the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan this morning where they discussed the "attacks on the minority community" and the Indo-US nuclear deal.

He said that he had not demanded the resignation of Home Minister Shivraj Patil following the encounter.

"The media had raised questions on the authenticity of the encounter... I had only suggested that maintaining the Congress tradition, the Home Minister should step down pending a judicial probe," he said.

Singh maintained that if the judicial probe indicted those arrested after the encounter, "the police was free to shoot them. But they are innocent till proven guilty".

Amar Singh said he had offered to fund the legal expenses of those arrested in the encounter.

"Certain reports in the media had suggested that I was funding terror outfits, which is not the truth," he added.

He said that since those arrested in the encounter hail from Azamgarh, which is his hometown too, therefore he decided to support their legal expenditure.

"I have raised a voice to ensure that the minority communities don''t feel unsafe and insecure... that is also our demand from the UPA government," he added.

Singh clarified that it was not his intention to question the integrity of Delhi Police or slain Inspector M C Sharma.

"I was the first one to extend financial aid to the family of the slain official. They did not accept the aid but I would request them to do so," he said.

Singh dismissed the BJP''s demand that he should apologise to the nation for raising doubts over the veracity of the encounter, saying that media had raised doubts over the incident and he had reacted only to those reports. (ANI)

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