Dropping of POTO charges against suspected Al Qaeda terrorist
Mohammed Afroz today snowballed into a major controversy with NCP
warning Congress to restrain its ministers from hurling charges
against Maharashtra deputy chief minister and senior NCP leader
Chhagan Bhujbal or else face retaliation.

The controversy surrounding dropping of POTO charges against Afroz
has brought in sharp focus the differences between Congress and NCP--
the main partners of the ruling Democratic Front coalition--with
leaders of both parties trading charges against each other.

Ministers of state for home--Kripashankar Singh and Manikrao Thakre--
both belonging to Congress, had recently made statements
contradicting their senior colleague Bhujbal, who is in-charge of the
Home ministry.

While Singh said Bhujbal had directed police to invoke POTO against
the suspected Al Qaeda terrorist, Thakre had stated that nothing will
come out of the probe ordered by Bhujbal into the events leading to
dropping of anti-terrorism charges against Afroz.

Bhujbal has lodged a strong protest with the chief minister Vilasrao
Deshmukh and the latter has assured that he would ask his ministers
to restrain from making such statements, NCP spokesman Vasant Chavan
told reporters. Bhujbal reportedly told the chief minister that NCP
ministers were also capable of hurling accusations against their
counterparts, belonging to Congress.

Congress ministers' act of making public statements, contradictory to
official stance adopted by Bhujbal, is 'improper' and the party must
restrain them, Chavan said. NCP would take a serious view of the
situation if Deshmukh fails to issue directives to Congress
ministers, Chavan said adding "we will then take up the matter with
the Congress at the party level."

The deputy chief minister had already made a detailed statement in
the assembly that there was no political interference in police
investigations leading to application of POTO against Afroz or its
subsequent withdrawal.

Despite Bhujbal making the government's stance clear on the floor of
the house, Singh made a statement contradictory to it, Chavan pointed
out.

DATED :By: A Chalomumbai Correspondent
April 4,2002
www.chalomumbai.com