PFI-RSS Row: Patna SSP Defends Remark, Says 'Selective Interpretation' Of His Statement

Dhillon has been in the eye of the storm after he referred to physical training provided by PFI to its cadres "like the RSS shakhas".

New Delhi: Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manavjeet Singh Dhillon, who courted controversy for allegedly comparing RSS with Islamic extremist outfit PFI, on Friday said that a "selective interpretation" of his statement sparked the row, news agency PTI reported.  

Dhillon, who has been in the eye of the storm after he referred to physical training provided by PFI to its cadres "like the RSS shakhas", at a press conference said that he was stating what was there "on record, as part of our investigations".

"I was asked by journalists about the modus operandi of PFI of which a network we busted on Wednesday night. In reply, I shared what the arrested persons said during interrogation and also what their propaganda material had to say. There is an elaborate reference to this (PFI modelling its training programme after RSS shakhas)," PTI quoted Dhillon as saying.

He asserted that he never "compared one organisation with another" and blamed "selective interpretation" for the row. He further added that they “are focused on the investigation, undistracted by any controversy".

Notably, while the BJP launched a scathing attack on the SSP for the remark, the Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) in Bihar, JS Gangwar, frowned upon "comparing one organisation with another” and wished Dhillon remained focused on the probe.

Asked about PFI’s plans in Patna during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had on July 12 attended a centenary function at the state assembly premises, Dhillon said, "They did not seem to be intending to directly target the prime minister's tour. But they had planned agitations against CAA-NRC and triple talaq in localities with a predominantly Muslim population on that day. They gave up the idea after the police surveillance was heightened July 11 onwards."

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand, in a strongly worded statement, called Dhillon's clarification as "even more dangerous" and tantamount to "indirectly giving a clean chit to PFI".

He also asked whether the SSP "wants to be his master's voice by showing the RSS in a negative light" and accused Dhillon of making "out of way political statements".