Digvijaya releases Karkare call details

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday released records of his phone call to slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare hours before he was killed in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and demanded an apology from Maharashtra home minister RR Patil and others who had disputed his claim. HT reports.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday released records of his phone call to slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare hours before he was killed in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and demanded an apology from Maharashtra home minister RR Patil and others who had disputed his claim.

"People called me a liar. I was dubbed a traitor, a Pakistani agent. It pained me when Mumbai police made selective leaks. It was all the more painful when Maharashtra home minister announced in the state assembly that no such call was made."

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Singh had claimed that Karkare told him that he feared for his safety from Hindu extremists following his Malegaon blast probe. Patil and Karkare's wife Kavita had rubbished his claim, giving enough ammunition to BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits to launch a scathing attack on him. Singh's own party too had distanced from his statement.

But he felt vindicated on Tuesday.

"All those who dubbed me a liar and had put a question mark on my honesty, sincerity and credibility should apologise or at least express regrets now when I have produced documents," he said.

Singh has also raised this demand in his strongly worded letter to Patil.

Singh, who does not miss any opportunity to attack the RSS and the BJP, again targeted the Sangh Parivar outfits, claiming that bomb blasts in the country have stopped after Karkare arrested "RSS-affiliated people" in the Malegaon blast case.

"What is the reason that blasts have virtually stopped in recent months except the German Bakery blast in Pune and the recent one in Varanasi after the arrests in Malegaon case?" he asked.

He asked the BJP to introspect and answer why its supports the terror suspects.

"Why does BJP feel pain when these people are arrested? If there is proof against them, why does BJP launch a campaign in their support in the whole country?"