Hafiz Saeed wasn't arrested for 26/11: Shinde

Pakistan interior minister makes controversial statements during his short visit to India; Opposition asks Home Minister to explain why wasn't he reined in.

The goverment has had to explain how Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik got away with making controversial statements during his short visit to India last week.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised the matter in Parliament on Monday and demanded that it explain why the government didn't counter Malik.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha raised the issue in Lok Sabha while Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke in Rajya Sabha. "When the Indian government asked about (Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 attack mastermind) Hafiz Saeed, he (Malik) said there is no proof and he said Abu Jundal is a spy of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing)," said Prasad.

"Above all, he raised the issue of Babri Masjid... it is interference in internal issues," said Prasad, demanding an explanation from Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

Shinde, while making a statement in the Rajya Sabha, said Pakistan has been misleading India on the arrest of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and called Malik "misinformed". "Mr. Rehman Malik has been telling us repeatedly he has arrested Hafiz Saeed thrice and he was let off due to lack of evidence. We had been given to understand Hafiz Saeed was arrested on charge of being involved in the 26/11 attack," Shinde said.

"He said he will give FIRs and judgments of three occasions... He has given us papers on detention of Saeed and from the papers it is clear his detention was for other reasons and not for his role in Mumbai terror attack. So I can only say Mr. Rehman Malik appears to be misinformed in this case," he said. Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and mastermind of Mumbai terror attack of 2008.

"I made it clear, key issue in mind of Indian public is to bring perpetrators of 26/11 to justice. I specially mentioned our investigation shown Hafiz Saeed was mastermind and Pakistan is still to take actions," Shinde said.

Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and mastermind of Mumbai terror attack of 2008. "I made it clear, key issue in mind of Indian public is to bring perpetrators of 26/11 to justice. I specially mentioned our investigation shown Hafiz Saeed was mastermind and Pakistan is still to take actions," Shinde said.

Malik, before flying home Sunday, alleged that Abu Jundal, who is said to have been present at the Karachi-based "control room" from where the horrific Mumbai terror attack was overseen and directed was actually an Indian intelligence agent.

He had earlier compared the Babri mosque demolition with the Mumbai attack but later denied making a comparison.