Rahul Gandhi's 'ISI' remark: no such input from Intelligence, says UP government

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has denied receiving any information from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) regarding Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's claim that young Muslim men whose families were affected in the Muzaffarnagar communal riots have been contacted by Pakistani agencies who want to recruit them to work against India.

Mr Gandhi had made the controversial remarks at a rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Thursday and had attributed the information to an unnamed intelligence officer.

"We have received no input whatsoever in this regard by either the Intelligence Bureau (IB) or the Union Home Ministry" the state's Home Secretary, Kamal Saxena, was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.

Anti-terrorist squad (ATS) chief Mukul Goel also ruled out any such input from intelligence agencies at the centre and added that the state's intelligence units were on guard against any such nefarious design by any anti-national group. "We are on vigil, and surveillance across the state has not brought to light any such thing," he said.

Speaking at the Indore rally, Rahul had said, "An intelligence officer came into my room and told me that people from Pakistan's intelligence agencies are talking to a few Muslims boys whose relatives were killed in Muzaffarnagar riots. He said he tried to talk to the boys and convince them not to get influenced by these people."

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His comments have sparked a controversy with the BJP accusing him of questioning the patriotism of Indian Muslims. The party has asked the government to explain why Mr Gandhi is being briefed by intelligence officers when he is not a member of the government. (Narendra Modi takes on 'shehzada' Rahul Gandhi for ISI remark)

Lodging strong protest against his remarks, prominent social activist Nutan Thakur has written to the Election Commission seeking appropriate action. Taking cognizance of the complaint, Election Commissioner H S Brahma has reportedly told Dr Thakur that the poll panel will look into the matter.

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