People's Democracy

Liyaqat Shah’s Arrest: Time-Bound Probe Needed

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on March 25, 2013.

THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) urges the union home ministry to immediately entrust the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conduct a time-bound enquiry into the conflicting versions given by the J&K Police and state government and the Delhi Police over the arrest of an alleged militant, Liyaqat Ali Shah.

Since the enactment of the legislation establishing the NIA, the CPI(M) has been repeatedly raising the issue of improved coordination between the various agencies of the state on matters concerning our country’s security. The union government has been repeatedly reassuring the parliament in response to such concerns that such a situation where one arm of the security apparatus defers from the other will be corrected.

This arrest of Liyaqat Ali Shah has once again exposed such contradictions in our security apparatus. This does not augur well for strengthening the country’s vigilance against terrorism and protection of both our internal and external security.

An immediate time bound probe is essential to ensure that the process of procuring the surrender and rehabilitation of former militants put in place by the J&K state government with the approval of the union government, way back in 2010, is not jeopardised.