Srinagar, Oct. 19: Omar Abdullah today asked states across the country not to “rub salt into Kashmiris’ wounds” through acts like Saturday’s questioning of J&K cricketer Parvez Rasool in Bangalore on terror suspicion.

“It has been proven today that the fault was in the machine (bomb detector). The boy was unfortunately made the scapegoat,” the chief minister said.

Parvez, 21, was detained for nearly six hours after a bomb detector at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium apparently picked up signals suggesting there were traces of explosives in his kitbag. Officially, Bangalore police haven’t said anything about the detector being at fault, and Parvez’s bag is being analysed at a forensic laboratory.

Omar’s stand contrasts with that of his father Farooq, a Union minister and state cricket chief. Farooq had said yesterday that some Kashmiris — perhaps players left out of the team or their acquaintances — may have given false leads to Bangalore police against Parvez.

The chief minister put the blame on the police. “Incidents like these act as salt on the raw wounds of Kashmiris. I have always told the state governments ‘Please take care when it comes to Kashmir’,” he said.

Omar said his government had swung into action as soon as reports of Parvez’s detention reached Srinagar. “Our DGP was in constant touch with Bangalore police. All the information was shared with Karnataka police, with the result that he (Parvez) was released immediately.”

Omar urged his father to order an internal probe in the state cricket association to find out if anyone had played mischief.