Srinagar, Dec 28: Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday questioned the timing of the NIA arrests before the next year’s Parliamentary elections, saying “national security is best served by being just and inclusive, not suspicious of an entire community.”
In her post on micro-blogging website Twitter, Mehbooba said though national security is supreme but declaring suspects as terrorists on the basis of ‘Sutli bombs’ is premature.
“National security is supreme. But declaring suspects as terrorists on the basis of Sutli bombs, associating with the dreaded IS is premature. It has already devastated their lives and families. NIA must learn from earlier episodes in which the accused were acquitted after decades,” Mehbooba tweeted.
She said the arrests by the country’s premier investigation agency just before elections raise suspicion.
“Arrests by NIA in the election season do raise suspicion, especially after the urban Naxal case seems to be falling apart. National security is best served by being just and inclusive, not suspicious of an entire community,” she said.
On Wednesday, security agencies carried out simultaneous raids in various parts of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
NIA claimed that a locally-made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests and 112 alarm clocks to be used as timers were recovered from the searches.
Among the explosive recovered by the NIA there could be seen ‘sutli bombs,’ popular crackers that are widely available in the market.
Many on Twitter questioned the recovery of sutli bombs among explosives. Some even reacted with funny tweets.
