Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The brother of Mohammad Abdur Rehman Katki, the man from Cuttack district arrested for being a suspected facilitator of international terrorist outfit al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Thursday said the arrest was a conspiracy to defame the state and the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The statement was promptly rubbished by the BJD.
Soon after Katki’s brother, Taher Ali Khan, made the statement and also described himself as a local leader of BJD, senior BJD leader and the party’s chief spokesperson, Amar Prasad Satpathy, said the party’s name was being used by Taher only for self-defence. “Taher used BJD’s name for self-defense. A person who is a supporter of a terrorist organisation cannot be a part of any political party,” said Satpathy to this newspaper. Satpathy made it clear that BJD has absolutely no links with Taher.
Taher had said: “My brother was arrested on false charges and his arrest is a conspiracy to defame the state as well as the ruling party.” He had then added: “I have no doubt that he (Katki) would come out clean, just as I was after my arrest in 2001”. Taher was arrested in 2001 in connection with the terror attack on the American consulate in Kolkata.
Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Naraisngha Mishra said all the political parties should remain alert in order to ensure that no person involved in terrorist activities is inducted into any party as a worker.
