The Hindu : Front Page : Meeting of top police officers held

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Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
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Meeting of top police officers held

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: Local Administration Minister Paloli Muhammad Kutty has said the police are yet to find any evidence to suggest that extremists had recruited 300 Kerala youths for their cause.

Speaking to newspersons after chairing a meeting of top police officers here on Wednesday, the Minister said the government had not so far considered banning the National Development Front. (The organisation has been widely accused of being a refugee of former activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India).

Mr. Mohammed Kutty is temporarily holding charge of the Home portfolio in the absence of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who is on an official tour to the United States.

‘Ban no solution’

The Minister said the challenges posed by extremism could not be combated solely by banning suspected organisations. There should be popular awareness of the threats posed to society by extremists.

He said conversion from one religion to another was not an indication that a person was an extremist. Religious faith was more a question of personal choice, he added.

The Minister said that the team investigating the suspected terrorist links in Kerala was focussing its efforts mainly on certain groups in Ernakulam, Kannur and Malappuram.

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