M A I N   N E W S

PC owns up most-wanted list gaffe
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 18
Home Minister P Chidambaram today sought to put an end to the controversy over the inclusion of Wazhul Kamran Khan’s name in the list of 50 most-wanted terrorists given to Pakistan, describing it as a genuine oversight.

There was a mistake. We are not trying to blame anyone. We take responsibility for it. This was a genuine mistake and a human error, but not a monumental mistake…it won’t have calamitous consequences. — P Chidambaram, Home Minister

Talking to reporters here, he said, “There was a mistake. We are not trying to blame anyone. We take responsibility for it.” He said the red-corner alert should have been cancelled and Wazhul Khan’s name deleted from the list. “This was a genuine mistake and a human error, but not a monumental mistake…it won’t have calamitous consequences,” he added.

The Home Minister said the CBI was not informed of Wazhul Khan’s arrest by the Mumbai police. “It was also a lapse on the part of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The information about the arrest was lying around… someone should have been more diligent in compilation,” he added.

Asked about the BJP’s attack that the goof-up reflected the “optimum incompetence” of his ministry, Chidambaram recalled a statement of LK Advani that as the Home Minister he did not know that three terrorists in custody were taken out of jail in December 1999 and taken to Kandahar by the then foreign minister.

“Let me ask the BJP leaders if this (Khan episode) marks the level of maximum incompetence, then what was that…if this brought embarrassment to the country, did that statement not bring disgrace to the country? I think you should allow for some political exchanges on this and should not make it an eight-column story,” he said.