The Delhi Police on Tuesday said two imams arrested for alleged links to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba tried to recruit men in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Teams of the Delhi Police special cell are in Muzaffarnagar to search for alleged Lashkar operatives who are said to be making attempts to recruit young men for terror.

Senior Delhi Police officer SN Srivastav said two men from Muzaffarnagar have revealed they were approached by the arrested imams or Muslim clerics for a kidnapping plot, and were told that the ransom money could be used to build a mosque.

Meanwhile, Union minister Manish Tewari targeted the opposition and said, “Those who believe in the politics of polarisation, who believe in the politics of communalism should become cognizant of the damage which they do to the idea of India”.

However, BJP demanded that the home minister explain the “facts”, terming the present situation as “unacceptable”, “This shows how well-entrenched the network of LeT and other such outfits supported and funded by Pakistan are in UP…What action they have taken on their own. It is a national issue. Nobody is nabbed, nobody is traced. This is unacceptable,” party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

Now the UP government and the Centre must answer, he said, adding the BJP had sought to know from the Centre as to what action it had taken on its own after Gandhi had spoken about it.

SP leader Naresh Agarwal said Muzaffarnagar had become a “political pawn” for many parties but added that he was not aware of the facts of the case. Delhi Police should do what it should but let there be no politics over it, he said.