No proof that Jundal stayed at MLA hostel: RR Patil

State home minister RR Patil on Friday said investigating agencies had no records to show that terror suspect Abu Jundal had stayed in minister of state Fauzia Khan's MLA hostel rooms in 2006. Khan, the Nationalist Congress Party's only female minister, hails from Beed.

State home minister RR Patil on Friday said investigating agencies had no records to show that terror suspect Abu Jundal had stayed in minister of state Fauzia Khan's MLA hostel rooms in 2006. Khan, the Nationalist Congress Party's only female minister, hails from Beed.

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"Jundal was nabbed for the 2006 arms haul and this has helped avert terror attacks in Maharashtra and Gujarat. In police inquiries made after this, it was not proved that he had stayed in any legislator's room or that he had links with any state MLA," said Patil. He also added that if there was any new information in this regard it would be probed.

Patil said this after leader of opposition Eknath Khadse pointed out that Jundal, in his statement to the Intelligence Bureau (IB), had mentioned having stayed in the MLA hostel room and that the terror conspiracy was hatched there. The home minister denied having any knowledge of this statement.

He further asked whether all legislators could guarantee that they knew all the people who had stayed in the rooms allotted to them in the MLA hostel. "Every MLA has been allotted two rooms. The hostel is like a dharamshala. Instead of praising efforts made by the police to arrest Jundal, the Opposition wants to know where he stayed, which toilet he used," said Patil.

Khadse, who objected to this, said, "I am not alleging that Khan was a part of the conspiracy or knew Jundal. But this latest information has to be investigated."

Patil admitted that the state's conviction rate had gone down and announced plans to set up a committee to address the situation.