New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that The Samjhauta Express blast case was deliberately manipulated to create a scenario that sought to link the bombing to a specific religion and there was no evidence against the accused finally let off by the court.
The Modi government was not responsible that justice was not served as the case had been led in a particular direction with the real culprits released and others held for a crime they did not commit.
The minister’s remarks were a response to doubts raised that the law might be misused against certain communities and Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s criticism that the NIA had “failed” to investigate the Samjhauta blasts.
“Seven people were arrested for the Samjhauta blast. A case was created to connect the blasts to a specific religion, culprits were released and new people were arrested. How could have they received punishment? There was no evidence against them. Who is responsible that justice wasn’t served to the victims of the Samjhauta blast? Because itis not us,” Shah said during a three-hour debate on the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill 2019 in Rajya Sabha.
Shah’s remarks were a sharp attack on Congress, which he has repeatedly accused of manipulating terror cases for political benefit by seeking to create a false equivalence between jihadi terrorism and Hindu groups.