India's newspapers have reported that Mohammed Yaqoob Qureshi, a minister in northern Uttar Pradesh state government, has offered a bounty of $11.5 million to anyone who decapitates one of the Danish cartoonists who authored 12 cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, published in Jyllands Posten in September 2005.

Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state as well as the state with the largest Muslim population. Uttar Pradesh's government asserts that Mr. Qureshi's statement reflects his "personal wish" and as such does not violate government rules.

Source: AFP (registration required)