From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 04:32 PM IST

Shiv Sena executive president Udhav Thackeray Saturday contemptuously dismissed allegations that his party supported Maoists or their activities in the state.

"Ours is a nationalist party and our contribution in this regard is known to the people of Maharashtra. Hence, supporting such (Maoists) is not possible. In this regard, we do not believe any such narco-test," Thackeray said in a statement published in the party mouthpiece "Saamna".

Thackeray was reacting to a report about a purported confession during a narco-test administered on Arun Fereira, a Mumbai resident, who was arrested from Nagpur in May 2007 for alleged Maoist links. After his arrest, he underwent two narco-tests in Bangalore.

In one of the narco-tests, Fereira has allegedly claimed that Sena chief Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena party and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), student wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were providing financial assistance to Maoists.

Terming the so-called narco-test revelation as "strange", Thackeray wondered to what extent it could somebody trust these tests.

He said that the main accused in the multi-billion rupees fake stamp paper scam Abdul Karim Telgi was given a narco-test and taken the name of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar.

Thackeray warned that it is difficult to gauge the designs of terrorists and Maoists and it is imperative to destroy such games immediately.

He also called for investigations to ascertain the "motive" behind asking such questions in the narco-test.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)