Kiren Rijiju Hits Out At Chidambaram Over Affidavit In Isharat Jahan Case

New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today accused former home minister P Chidambaram of making a "delirious attempt to escape" in the Ishrat Jahan controversy by saying an under secretary had signed the second affidavit contradicting an earlier submission that the 19-year-old girl, killed in an alleged fake encounter, was an LeT activist.

"It is a delirious attempt to escape. An Under Secretary signs in an affidavit only after the minister approves," Mr Rijiju told reporters in New Delhi.

He was reacting to Mr Chidambaram's comments on the controversy surrounding the change in affidavits done during the latter's tenure as the home minister, saying, "The home minister does not sign affidavits. It is signed by an under secretary."

"National security compromised is too serious an issue to be diverted. Congress can't divert it with an aberrant excuse. For how long will Congress protect a terrorist?" Mr Rijiju asked.

Mr Chidambaram had also said that the affidavit controversy was to "divert attention" from the real issue, which is whether it was a "fake" encounter or not.

Ishrat Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The Gujarat Police had then said that those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in the state to kill the then chief minister Narendra Modi.

The first affidavit, filed in the Gujarat High Court based on inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau, said that Ishrat Jahan, from Mumbai outskirts, was a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist, but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said.

The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by Mr Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist.