Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil has categorically denied The Indian Express report that the Maharashtra Police have submitted a statement saying Muslims are the masterminds behind all acts of terror in India, and Hindu action is mere retaliation.

But the Express is in possession of a copy of the statement made by the police in Dhule, that proves otherwise.

In its application for remand of a local Muslim leader, Shaabir Khan alias Shaabir Bhangarwala, accused of instigating last month’s communal violence in Dhule which claimed nine lives, the police said: “Bharat deshaat baryach pramanat thikthikani bombspot zaale asun tyaamadhey bombspot ghadvun aanare vyakti yaa Muslim samajachya nishpann zaalele aahet.” Translated from the Marathi, it reads: “It is an established fact that Muslims are the masterminds behind all terrorist activities across India.”

After the Express first reported the statement on Monday, Patil, who is also Maharashtra’s home minister, said: “I have spoken to the Dhule SP and he has told me that there is no such mention in the documents. I have clarified it.”

The police filed the remand application before the Dhule Additional Sessions Judge A Baviskar.

According to the police, “the October 5 riot was mainly instigated by inflammatory speeches made by (Shaabir) Khan who had just returned from Haj a day before.” Khan was arrested a week after the violence.

The police also tried to justify the actions of the Hindu Rakshak Samiti (HRS), which has been blamed for the violence in Dhule days after the Malegaon blast. What the HRS did was “mere retaliation to what has been happening in the country over the past few years”, the application said.

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