Sibu Soren reinducted into Indian cabinet
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday reappointed a minister dismissed four months ago for alleged involvement in the killing of 10 villagers three decades ago, officials said.
Sibu Soren, a 62-year-old tribal leader, returned to the federal coal ministry and was given cabinet rank, the presidential palace said in a statement.
Singh, widely respected for his unsullied public reputation, dismissed suggestions Soren's reappointment would give ammunition to the main opposition Hindu nationalists.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "The basis because of which he (Soren) left the government does not exist," Singh told reporters, without elaborating.
Soren, accused of instigating a mob who killed 10 people, was dismissed from the cabinet in July after going underground for over a week to avoid arrest over the 1975 deaths of 10 Muslims in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
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