Author: Saroj Nagi
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: October 10, 2008
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=12bacefe-5234-4d55-9836-6b4051cfe1c2
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said to be
against a judicial probe into the Jamia Nagar encounter.
Sources said the Prime Minister conveyed to
Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh on Wednesday - and informed Congress president
Sonia Gandhi about it - that the UP leader's demand for a judicial probe would
be counter-productive. It was felt, this would demoralise the police force
and lead to accusations by the Opposition that the UPA was soft-pedalling
on terror.
The message given to the SP was also meant
for a section in the Congress that wanted such a probe and had approached
him and Gandhi with the plea that "certain questions" about the
encounter needed to be addressed to assuage Muslim sentiments.
The Jamia Nagar encounter did not come up
in Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, essentially because Union Minister Kapil Sibal,
who wanted such an action, was absent.
