He did not mention 74 bodies: Cong

Two days after Rahul Gandhi's allegations that the Uttar Pradesh Police committed murders and rapes in Greater Noida's Bhatta-Parsaul villages sparked a controversy, the Congress went into damage control mode on Wednesday, demanding a judicial inquiry to unearth the truth.

Two days after Rahul Gandhi's allegations that the Uttar Pradesh Police committed murders and rapes in Greater Noida's Bhatta-Parsaul villages sparked a controversy, the Congress went into damage control mode on Wednesday, demanding a judicial inquiry to unearth the truth.

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The Congress media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi said that after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, Gandhi had merely repeated to the media what the villagers of Bhatta-Parsaul had told him.

"Whatever has come in the media is unfortunate. Nowhere did he mention the number 74 or 74 bodies. Rahul Gandhi only said that at one place there was a heap of ash in a 70-foot area in which bones were found," Dwivedi told reporters.

On Gandhi's allegations of rape and murder, Dwivedi said, "This is a matter of investigation. If bones have been found, whose bones are these? And if atrocities have taken place against women, why has it happened?"

Party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said "let there be a judicial inquiry (into the allegations of burning of men and rape of women)" as she slammed the Mayawati government for failing to set one up.