TIL Desk/National/Ahmedabad/ Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday demanded Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s resignation as Rajya Sabha MP, alleging that a suspected Islamic State operative arrested recently used to work at a hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.
Patel rejected the charge as “completely baseless” and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis. Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said that the Congress “owes an explanation as to how a terrorist had been working there for so long”.
Two suspected Islamic State operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad two days ago. According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.
Rupani said in Gandhinagar that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Patel owe a clarification to the nation as the matter pertains to national security. “This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrested from a hospital which is being run by Patel… It has now been revealed that though Patel had resigned as a trustee of that hospital in 2014, but he is still at the helm of the hospital’s affairs,” the Gujarat CM alleged.
