The Hindu : NDF activists remanded

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

NDF activists remanded

By Our Staff Reporter

KOLLAM, JAN. 28 . Two activists of the National Development Front (NDF), who were taken into custody by the police on Monday from near the venue of the State-level leadership camp of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), were today produced before the Judicial IInd Class Magistrate Court and remanded to custody for 14 days.

The two NDF activists, A. Shafique (22) and A. Riyazuddin (22), who were found moving around the venue of the RSS camp here on Monday in a suspicious manner and taking photographs of the activities within the camp, were first noticed by the RSS activists. When questioned, they claimed to be journalists. However, they later admitted that they were NDF activists specifically deputed by the NDF leadership to photograph the proceedings at the camp. They were later handed over to the police.

The police said the duo were found carrying leaflets with mention of the Babri Masjid issue. A diary found in their possession contained the names of RSS leaders and their telephone numbers. Police said that Riyazuddin, a journalism student in Thiruvananthapuram, had undergone training at an NDF camp.

Involvement denied

The NDF has denied any attempt on the part of the organisation's cadres to intrude into the RSS camp in Kollam. In a statement here, the NDF Kollam division convener, Ashraf Kottarakara, said the two youth who had gone to witness the camp, conducted in the open, were targetted by the RSS activists in a deliberate attempt to tarnish the Muslim community as "trouble-makers".

He alleged that the police had taken sides with the RSS and had falsely implicated the two youth. "Hundreds of persons were watching the public meeting addressed by the RSS `sar sangh chalak'. Why were only these two Muslim youth caught and falsely implicated," he asked.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Janakeeya Munnani has also condemned the arrest of the two youth. In a separate statement, the Munnani said the police had done nothing to apprehend a person, Chandra Babu, who was wanted in connection with an attempt on Abdul Nasir Maudani's life, even though he was moving around freely within the camp as a convener of the event. Instead, innocent persons watching the event were nabbed, it said.

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