Singh's plain talk caused quite a commotion at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, with ministers wondering how the DGP had dared to blame BJP's sister organisations. Insiders said Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya assured the ministers that police officers would be asked to be careful.

Interestingly, Keshubhai Patel kept quiet. But, later, in his briefing to the media, Patel defended the DGP. Asked whether the DGP had spoken out of turn, Patel said, ``He is a responsible officer, head of the police. He must have spoken the truth. He doesn't have to seek anybody's guidance.''

Singh had alleged on Tuesday that VHP and Barjang Dal men were taking the law into their hands. He also said that inter-religion marriages and elopements had been taking place in the past also, but these were becoming a law and order problem because of the VHP and Bajrang Dal's ``aggressive intervention''.

At the Cabinet meeting, the matter was raised by Civil Supplies Minister Jaspal Singh, who is a former police officer. Singh said if the DGP had made a wrong statement, he should be taken to task. But if what he said was right, steps should be taken to stop these incidents, which were bringing a bad name to the government.

However, Agriculture Minister Nitin Patel and Roads and Buildings Minister Savjibhai Korat were angry that the DGP had given a handle to the government's critics.