Published 12:07 IST, January 14th 2020
Congress absolves Pak of Pulwama attack, jumps to give religious spin on J&K DySP's arrest
Congress gives benefit of doubt to the 'real culprits' of Pulwama after Dy SP of Jammu & Kashmir Davinder Singh was arrested with Hizbul Mujhauddin terrorist
Two days after the arrest of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, Congress has attempted to give it a religious spin. Taking to Twitter, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has alleged that if the name of Davinder Singh would have been Davinder Khan, 'the reaction of troll regiment of RSS would have been more strident and vociferous.'
Giving a benefit of doubt, he has also questioned Pakistan's involvement in orchestrating the Pulwama terror attack last year on Feb 14, in which Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had claimed responsibility. He has asked 'who were the real culprits behind the gruesome Pulwama incident'.
Dy SP Davinder Singh arrested with Hizbul terrorists
On Sunday, deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police and two terrorists were detained from a car in south Kashmir. Davinder Singh, who has now been suspended, was posted at the airport, as per news agency PTI. He was arrested allegedly while ferrying Hizbul terrorists - Naveed Babu and Altaf, from the Shopian area on Saturday, officials said in a media briefing. Deputy Inspector General of South Kashmir Atul Goyal was supervising the operation and caught the car at a police barricade at Mir Bazar in Kulgam of south Kashmir.
During a press conference, the Police said that Davinder Singh was involved in plenty of anti-terror operations, "But the situation in which he was caught yesterday, driving terrorists in a vehicle to Jammu, it’s a heinous crime and we are treating him the same way we treat a terrorists," the Police said.
Hizbul Mujahideen, a pro-Pakistani terror organisation was formed in 1989 and is one of the oldest armed group operating in the valley. The group, that is based inside Pakistan, has been designated as a terrorist group by India, the US and the European Union.
Davinder Singh had also received Rs 12 lakh from the terrorists to ferry them to Jammu and then Chandigarh for their onward journey to New Delhi, IG (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar told. Notably, he was awarded 'Police Medal for Meritorious Service' in 2019.
He is being interrogated by various intelligence agencies, including IB, military intelligence and RAW, besides the police.
Singh had disclosed that he had put up the terrorists at his Indira Nagar house in Srinagar, right next to the Army''s 15 Corps Headquarters, and thereafter accompanied them to Jammu in a car driven by the Hizbul overground worker, news agency PTI stated quoting intelligence sources. Currently, he was also on duty ensuring security cover for the envoys of 15 countries who visited Srinagar at the Union government’s invitation last week
Afzal Guru link
Davinder Singh's name cropped up during the trial of 2001 Parliament attack. Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged on February 9, 2013, wrote a letter in the same year explaining how "DSP Davinder Singh", the then deputy superintendent of police of Special Operations Group, had asked him to "take Mohammad", a co-accused in the Parliament attack case, "to Delhi, rent a flat for his stay and purchase a car for him". However, the angle was probed and could not be substantiated with any evidence, the officials said.
Updated 19:47 IST, January 14th 2020