Udaipur killers had tried infiltrating BJP to kill its leaders

New Delhi, July 04: One of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists who was captured on Sunday is said to have been part of the BJP's IT cell. Talib Hussain had allegedly infiltrated the BJP and was even made the in-charge of Jammu province's Minority Morcha's IT and Social Media cell.

The BJP however said that Hussain remained a member of the party for just 18 days and he had resigned on May 27 2022.

On July 1, many opposition leaders had put out a tweet stating that one of the killers in the Udaipur murder case was a member of the BJP. "The killer of Kanhaiya Lal, Riyaz Attari is a member of the BJP," senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said while citing a media report. The BJP vehemently denied the allegation and said that the party has no links with the killers.

The ongoing investigation in the Udaipur case suggests that Attari was trying to get close to BJP leaders and workers of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch. The intention was to carry out a reconnaissance of BJP offices and also kill its members and workers, the initial probe has revealed.

An investigation would be launched soon in the Talib Hussain case as well to find out if he too had infiltrated the BJP like Attari.

This modus operandi was used by the LTTE whose members infiltrated political parties or got close to political leaders. An official, while explaining their strategy to OneIndia, said that by getting close to political leaders or joining the parties, they get an automatic security cover. They use this to go about places and carry out a reconnaissance of targets.

In the case of the LTTE many were welcomed into the state of Tamil Nadu as they were affiliated with a political party. It was due to this infiltration that they were able to set up a plan which ultimately resulted in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur, which is around 50 kilometres from the capital city of Chennai.

Another official said that these radical Islamists are following the same strategy now. The probe into the Udaipur killings makes it clear that their intent was to infiltrate and then target.

Attari was trying to get close with Irshad Chainwala, a member of the BJP Minority Morcha, and Tahir Raza Khan, a BJP worker. It was further revealed that Attari had also carried out a recce of BJP establishments and functionaries with the possible intention of attacking them.

The murder of a Hindu tailor, Kanhaiya Lal by two Muslim radicals last week has shaken the nation. The culprits had not only recorded the murder, but also posted another video and claimed responsibility for it.

This led the Intelligence Bureau to Amaravati where a pharmacist Umesh Kolhe was allegedly killed by five Muslim men.

While the police had registered a case of murder, the FIR said that the motive was robbery. It was only after a team of the Intelligence Bureau reached there did they realise that the Rs 35,000 that Kolhe had on him was intact.