New Delhi: Home Secretary GK Pillai
on Tuesday said his ministry accepted the blame for the goof-up on
a Mumbai terror accused being listed in the `50 most wanted
fugitives` in Pakistan but who was found living in Thane.
"There is no blame game. I don`t think anybody is
blaming the Mumbai Police. Any blame, if there is, is of the
Ministry of Home. I don`t think Mumbai Police can be blamed at
all. We will verify tomorrow after looking at the records," he
told the media.
Asked about Mumbai Police claim that they were not to
be blamed for the faux pas, Pillai said," I don`t think
anybody in the Home Ministry has blamed the Mumbai Police.
Nobody is blaming the Mumbai Police for this. It is the Home Ministry that is taking the blame for it so Mumbai police can
rest assured they are not being blamed for it at all."
He said he had not had the chance to look into the
records. All he could speculate at this moment was that
possibly when Mumbai Police had arrested this person, the
updating of the Red Corner Notice did not take place.
"We will examine the records tomorrow and put out a
statement clarifying the situation by lunch-time tomorrow," he
said.
Pillai maintained that the goof-up would not affect
India`s case seeking handing over of terrorists wanted from
Pakistan.
"The other list of people who are there including this
person was wanted for terrorist activities...It just happened
that prima facie his name should not have been there but we
will verify from record and will issue a statement," he said.
Meanwhile, sources said the initial probe into the
lapse has found that the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police and ATS
of Maharashtra police did not communicate the arrest of Wazhul
Kamar Khan to the CBI so that the international warrant could
be revoked against him.
Sources privy to the probe said the arrest of Khan
needed to be communicated to the CBI which in turn could have
withdrawn the the Interpol Red Corner notice.
Khan was arrested by the ATS in May last year along
with arms and ammunition and later Crime Branch arrested him
in connection with his alleged role in the 2003 Mulund train
blasts and later ATS arrested in few other cases as well. But
none of the two informed the CBI or any central agency to
withdraw the Red Corner Notice, the sources said.
Meanwhile, CBI, which is the nodal agency for Interpol
matters in the country, said it has received no prior request
to remove the wanted person (Khan), referred to in media
reports, from the Interpol lookout list.
PTI
