PM’s no to probe into Jamia encounter

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said to be against a judicial probe into the Jamia Nagar encounter, reports Saroj Nagi.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said to be against a judicial probe into the Jamia Nagar encounter.

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Sources said the Prime Minister conveyed to Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh on Wednesday — and informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi about it — that the UP leader’s demand for a judicial probe would be counter-productive. It was felt, this would demoralise the police force and lead to accusations by the Opposition that the UPA was soft-pedalling on terror.

The message given to the SP was also meant for a section in the Congress that wanted such a probe and had approached him and Gandhi with the plea that “certain questions” about the encounter needed to be addressed to assuage Muslim sentiments.

The Jamia Nagar encounter did not come up in Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, essentially because Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who wanted such an action, was absent.