New Delhi: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur withdrew her statement on Hemant Karkare on Friday evening. Thakur had earlier in the day claimed that the Maharashtra ATS chief died in the 26/11 attacks after she cursed him, a statement criticised by the opposition and the IPS Association.
Pragya Singh Thakur, BJP LS candidate from Bhopal, on her statement on Mumbai ATS Chief late Hemant Karkare: He (Hemant Karkare) died from the bullets of terrorists from the enemy country, he is certainly a martyr. https://t.co/q3wz0t2FWK
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2019
Malegaon blast accused and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, Pragya Singh is currently out on bail. “I felt that the enemies of the country were being benefited from it, therefore I take back my statement and apologise for it, it was my personal pain,” she told ANI
“He (Karkare) died from the bullets of terrorists from the enemy country, he is certainly a martyr,” Thakur said, a day after she accused the officer of torturing her in the jail
“I had told him you will be destroyed, and he was gone in less than two months,” she had initially said. Karkare had investigated the charges against Thakur in connection with the Malegaon blasts. He died in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attack.
#WATCH Pragya Singh Thakur:Maine kaha tera (Mumbai ATS chief late Hemant Karkare) sarvanash hoga.Theek sava mahine mein sutak lagta hai. Jis din main gayi thi us din iske sutak lag gaya tha.Aur theek sava mahine mein jis din atankwadiyon ne isko maara, us din uska anth hua (18.4) pic.twitter.com/COqhEW2Bnc
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2019
The BJP also released a statement, saying it considers Karkare a martyr. The comments made by Thakur was a “personal statement”, the party said, adding that she may have made them because of the “mental and physical torture” she faced.
BJP releases statement over the remarks made against late Hemant Karkare by BJP LS candidate for Bhopal, Pragya Thakur; says, “BJP considers him a martyr. This is Sadhvi Pragya’s personal statement which she might have given because of the mental & physical torture she had faced” pic.twitter.com/CNr5n5EbDl
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2019
“Ashok Chakra awardee late Sri Hemant Karkare, IPS made the supreme sacrifice fighting terrorists,” the IPS association had tweeted. “Those of us in uniform condemn the insulting statement made by a candidate and demand that sacrifices of all our martyrs be respected.”
The BJP leader is facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. The Bombay High Court gave her bail in April 2017, noting that she had been in jail for more than eight years and was suffering from breast cancer.