A day after the police trashed reports of funds being raised to meet the legal expenses of arrested alleged al-Qaeda terror operative Abdul Rehman, the locals today staged a dharna in front of Salepur police station demanding a thorough probe into the incident to clear the air on the sensitive issue.
Sheikh Tahimur Ali (53) of Sahipada village lodged a police complaint yesterday alleging that some youths of the village were "coercing" him to donate Rs 50,000 towards the legal expenses of Rehman.
He also alleged that he and his son were threatened of dire consequences if he did not cough up the amount.
Salepur police, after conducting an investigation, came to the conclusion that the allegations were "baseless and false".
"He (Tahimur) had lodged the complaint against the youths, implicating them with Rehman, only to teach them a lesson due to a grudge related to a personal rivalry," police had said.
But, as rumours spread that Tahimur had approached the police at the behest of one Ranjit Das of the locality, the latter today sat on the dharna in front of the police station along with his supporters.
Claiming that he had no role in the entire incident, Das demanded a thorough probe into the matter as also into the "secret meetings" held in the locality to garner support for Rehman.
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