BSP leader hails Paris attack, declares Rs 51 crore prize for gunmen

While the entire world is condemning the deadly terror attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's office in Paris, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Haji Yakoob Qureshi has justified the shootout, hailing the Paris attack and said people disrespecting Prophet Mohammed deserve death.

Lucknow: While the entire world is condemning the deadly terror attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's office in Paris, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Haji Yakoob Qureshi has justified the shootout and said people disrespecting Prophet Mohammed deserve death.

Qureshi said the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo had been repeatedly mocking the religion which is why the attack was carried out.

The BSP leader, after the attack, praised the attackers and declared a prize of Rs 51 crore for them. The politician had also courted controversy in 2006 when he shot to limelight after he announced a similar prize money for anyone who would kill the Danish cartoonist who drew a caricature mocking the Prophet.

This time too, Qureshi has announced to reward the Paris attackers with the same amount for attacking Charlie Hebdo's office.

Heavily armed men shouting Islamist slogans stormed the Paris headquarters of a satirical weekly on Wednesday, killing 12 people in cold blood in the worst attack in France in decades.

French police has published photos of two brothers wanted as suspects over a bloody massacre at a magazine in Paris as they launched an appeal to the public for information.

Paris police said arrest warrants had been issued for Cherif Kouachi, 32 and his 34-year-old brother Said who were "likely armed and dangerous".

The youngest of the three suspects in the attack on Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine here, has surrendered voluntarily, a media report said.

The 18-year-old suspect may have helped two other suspects to escape, Xinhua quoted police as saying. He surrendered "around 23.00 hours after seeing his name on social media", media reports citing a police source said.

President Francois Hollande has termed it was a terrorist act "of exceptional barbarism," adding that other attacks have been thwarted in France in recent weeks. Fears have been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis returning from conflicts in Syria and Iraq will stage attacks at home.