Unperturbed by a series of acquittals of innocent persons falsely implicated in ‘terror’ cases, the sleuths of Delhi Police (DP) made fresh claims of arresting 7 (6+1) alleged terror operatives from various places in the country. Police said three cases of Delhi Jama Masjid firing, Pune bakery and Bangalore stadium blasts have been cracked thereby. It alleged that the accused are members of the mysterious Indian Mujahedeen (IM) module, put together by illusive Yasin Bhatkal alias Yasin Ahmad Siddibappa alias Shahrukh alias Imran alias Asif, etc. Though Yasin’s name has cropped up in several cases, yet none of his name has been arrested. Delhi Police has announced a reward of Rs. 15 lakh on his head. One among the arrested is said to be a resident of Karachi.
Police has also claimed to have recovered two AK-47 rifles, one 9 mm pistol, their cartridges and various types of explosive substances along with detonators, fake Indian currency of Rs 2 lakh, and other incriminating material.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram confirmed the alleged IM operatives were suspected of having a hand in the blasts of German Bakery Pune, Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore and Jama Masjid Delhi firing. Earlier in May 2010 Maharashtra ATS had arrested a young man Abdul Samad Bhatkal in a dramatic way as he arrived from Dubai. Mr. Chidambaram was immediately informed of the “prized catch in Bakery case” who in turn generously praised the police. But the shine of the story faded within hours. ATS made a bogus case and showed him arrested in a 2009 arms seizure case. The judge observed there is no evidence against Samad and that even the ATS had never shown Samad as a “wanted accused” in the arms case and freed him on bail.
Yasin is said to be “kingpin” in all these cases. It seems that DP did not check with their counterparts in Maharashtra, before making this claim, as Pune Police had already crowned one Mirza Himayat Inayat Beg (29) as the kingpin of Bakery case and back on July 16, 2011, the court of ADJ N P Dhote had framed charges against Beg. DP has accused one Qateel Siddiqi also in Pune case but his name is not in the list of other six suspects who are yet to be arrested.
Qateel Siddiqi, 27, and Gauhar Aziz Khomani, 31 – were picked up in Delhi on November 22 and 23 respectively. Two others – Gayur Ahmad Jamali, 21 and Mohammad Adil, 40, were arrested in Bihar’s Darbhanga and Madhubani on November 24 and 25 respectively. Irshad Khan, 52, of Samastipur, Bihar, and Abdur Rahman, 19, of Darbhanga, were arrested in Chennai on November 27. Siddiqi, Khomani and Jamali too belong to Darbhanga, police said. Four others, from Madhubani, are on the police’s radar.
Siddiqi – who police said was also known as Sajjan, Sajan, Javed and Shahjada Salim – was the first to be arrested. He was picked up from near Anand Vihar bus terminal (AVBT). A pistol with cartridges, and the fake currency notes, two fake passports, a forged identity card of the NCC, and a fake driving licence were allegedly recovered from his person.
His “interrogation” produced the name of Yasin Bhatkal, and led to the arrest of Khomani, Jamali, a Pakistani Adil alias Ajmal and Shoeb from Madhubani. Police said Adil had travelled to Delhi on the instructions of the founders of the IM – the Shahbandari brothers of Bhatkal, Riyaz and Iqbal. Raids in Chennai on Nov 27 led to the arrest of Irshad Khan of Samastipur who lived in Delhi, and Abdur Rahman of Darbhanga, police said.
As narrated by the police, the serial arrests are the result of chance arrest of one Siddiqui from AVBT in Delhi and all arrests are made on the basis of “interrogations” and “information” revealed by the arrested people. We can only hope that this is not a repetition of Malegaon where nine innocent persons were pushed behind bars and a case of terror slapped on them at the strength of “confessions” made by one Abrar Ahmad, who turned out to be a petty informer of police. Maharashtra ATS kept him in illegal custody for over 20 days. He was made “approver”, however he retracted in the court and informed the judge that he was coerced to confess under threats.
It seems that Delhi Police was in a haste to narrate half-baked story to overshadow the embarrassment of indictment made by a court in a terror case only 3 days before.
HUJI MILITANT LET OFF BY DELHI COURT
PTI reported on Nov 27, 2011 that the court of ASJ P.K. Jain of Delhi let off an alleged HuJI “terrorist” Abdur Rehman and observed: “I am of considered opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt.”
A detailed press release signed by Mr. Alok Kumar, DCP, Special Cell, on 22.5.2005 said: The team of Special Cell led by Inspector MC Sharma under the supervision of Shri S K Yadav, ACP has apprehended one Pak trained HuJI militant namely Mohd Iqbal alias Abdur Rehman from New Delhi Railway Station.” It was claimed that “the arrested militant had been sent to Delhi by top commanders of HuJI with the nefarious task of causing bomb blasts in the capital. During the follow-up action, a large quantity of explosive material was recovered.”
The Police Commissioner said, “Interrogation of previously apprehended terrorists and other sources revealed that the Pak-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) in league with Bangladeshi terrorist outfit Harkat Ul Jehadi Islami (HuJI ) had jointly committed many terrorist activities in India in the recent past. Information was received from Central Intelligence Agency that Qamar alias Nata, Commander of HuJI in Bangladesh is planning to send some trained terrorists of HuJI in India for causing blasts in the crowded places in Delhi. In order to develop this information and to thwart the terrorist attack in Delhi sources were deployed, in Delhi, border areas of West Bengal and technical surveillance was also mounted.”
The statement claimed, “On 21.05.2008, specific information was received that a HuJI militant with code name Abdur Rehman has entered into India through Indo-Bangladesh border and would arrive in Delhi. Accordingly, a trap was laid… and Iqbal alias Abdur Rehman (aged 31 yrs) r/o Muzaffarnagar, UP was apprehended.” The police also claimed recovery of “three Kgs of RDX, one timer and five electronic detonators” from D-Block in Janakpuri, Delhi” from a hideout revealed by Iqbal during interrogation. The story goes on explaining links of the accused and his activities during last several years and his contacts in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
This shows the set pattern of our police regarding source of information, “interrogation” and inputs by unspecified “Central Intelligence Agency”, “specific information regarding the movement without mentioning specific source.” All cases, involving some Muslim names, are fabricated in the same fashion. I am not sure if it could be called “modus operandi” of the police in the criminal act of implicating innocent persons in anti-national heinous crimes. (to be concluded)