Police give clean chit to suspected Islamic fundamentalists

Agartala, July 20 (UNI) The Tripura Police today gave a clean chit to all the 40 suspected Islamic fundamentalists who had been interrogated for suspicion of their involvement in any anti-national activities.

Speaking to UNI, Director General of Police(DGP) G M Srivastava said nothing suspicious has been revealed during their interrogation. ''They are free to carry on their daily routine. They can move out from Tripura without any hinderance,''.

He further said the Gujarat police had informed the state police that the eight suspected youth, who had been called for questioning in Udaipur, had no criminal case registered against them.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had said that the youth were innocent and had come to Tripura for religious purposes.

''The police has interrogated them on suspicion and have come to the conclusion that they are innocent. So they are free to go ahead with their scheduled purposes. They can carry on with their religious preachings without disturbing the peace and harmony in the state,'' he said.

A delegation of the Tripura State Jamiat Ulema (TSJU) Hind had called upon the CM yesterday and requested him to ensure that the innocent people, who had come to the state for religious purposes, were not harassed. Mr Sarkar assured the delegation of all possible help.

Officers of the Anti Terrorist Squad(ATS) of Mumbai Police, who arrived in the state on July 17, six days after the Mumbai blasts, had also reported that the 11 youth from Maharastra, who were questioned, had nothing to do with any islamic fundamentalist or terrorists organisation.

The two member team of ATS--Mr Sachin Rane and R Tonti-told UNI that the youth were interrogated in details.

''From the questioning it is ascertained that have come to Tripura with the purpose of preaching the tenets of Islam.

So no criminal case has been registered against them nor were they arrested,'' Mr Rane said.

Meanwhile, sources in the Special Branch of Tripura Police said suspicion arose because of language barrier. He said they also suspected the youth to have links with Students Islamic Movement of India(SIMI). ''But it was not established during interrogation. All the youth have come from Mumbra in Maharashtra under the banner of Tabliq-e-Jamat, duly nominated by Hazrat Nizzamuddin Mosque, New Delhi, to preach Islam to the Muslim population in Tripura for a period of 40 days,'' the sources said.

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