New Delhi:
Despite cell phone records which are unable to support his claim, Digvijaya Singh insists he did speak to Hemant Karkare hours before the chief of the anti-Terror Squad in Maharashtra was killed during 26/11.
Singh, who is Congress general secretary, said, "Tomorrow at 2:30pm I will produce the required evidence at a press conference."
Mumbai police sources say the records show no calls between Karkare and Singh on 26/11. Call records of all police officers were forwarded to the Pradhan Committee which was appointed to look into the police response in the hours after the siege of Mumbai began.
Singh found himself under considerable attack over the weekend after he announced that Karkare shared concerned about death threats from Hindu extremists in a phone conversation before he was killed in 2008 by Pakistani terrorists during India's worst-ever terror attack.
The remarks which implied Hindu groups may have caused Karkare's death forced the Congress to distance itself from Singh, stating that this was his personal opinion.
Karkare's widow, Kavita, showed little patience for Singh's theory. "Such a statement will benefit Pakistan... I want the world to know that Pakistan is behind the attack and not anyone else," she said.
Singh later clarified that he had not stated that Karkare was killed by a Hindu group. He said Karkare was receiving threats because of his investigation into the Malegaon blast which saw right-wing extremists being arrested for allegedly planning and executing the attack. In September 2008, seven people were killed after a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in the communally-sensitive town.