Mumbai(Maharashtra):A controversy has erupted over the burial place of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon in Mumbai, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming that the grave was "beautified" and attempts were made to turn it into a shrine of sorts.
The BJP claimed that Memon's grave was "beautified" during Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's tenure as Maharashtra chief minister and sought his apology over it. However, the Sena leaders maintained that the party and the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had nothing to do with it and that it was being dragged into the issue unnecessarily.
As the row erupted over the issue, Mumbai police swung into action on Thursday, removing the LED lights put around the grave of the terror convict, who was hanged at Nagpur jail in 2015 and buried at the Bada Qabrastan in south Mumbai. A DCP-level police officer will probe how the LED lights and marble tiles came to "adorn" the terror convict's grave, an official said.
With some Maharashtra BJP leaders targeting the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the latter said the whole issue was an attempt to divert people's attention from more important issues like inflation and unemployment. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Thackeray should apologise to the people of Mumbai and Maharashtra for this "beautification" attempt of the grave of a person responsible for killing 250 people. A local BJP leader said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should also apologise over the issue.
A police official said halogen lights were installed in the Bada Qabrastan on the occasion of Badi Raat (Shab-e-Barat) and have been removed by the Qabrastan trustees. Shab-e-Barat is a major celebration for the Muslim community is also known as the night of fortune and forgiveness. The marble tiles around Memon's grave were put up three years ago, he said. There are 13 other graves at the place, he added.
The Shiv Sena said the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government had nothing to do with the beautification of the grave of Memon, who was hanged on July 30, 2015 for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency, Arvind Sawant, told reporters that the Bada Qabrastan, where the grave is located, is a private property and the state government does not have anything to do with it.