No Change in Police Mindset

A month after the bomb blast at the historic Makkah Masjid, police have achieved no breakthrough in the investigations and the manner in which the probe was conducted so far raised many questions.

Written by

INAMUL HAQ

Published on

June 17, 2022

A month after the bomb blast at the historic Makkah Masjid, police have achieved no breakthrough in the investigations and the manner in which the probe was conducted so far raised many questions.
After attempting to create sectarian differences among Muslims during investigations, police are now appearing to be implicating some Muslim youths in the case.
Though Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has taken over the probe into the blast, attempts by police to frame a Muslim youth have come to light.
The police, which tried to divide the Muslim community by blaming ‘Ahle Hadees militant group’ for the attack, allegedly sent a Muslim youth illegally to Bangladesh to trace Mohammed Shahed alias Bilal, who is said to be the prime suspect in case.
However, when a Urdu newspaper exposed this, the police arrested Abdul Sattar by branding him an agent of Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence (ISI).
Police claimed on June 16 that Abdul Sattar was in the city while he was moving around in suspicious manner and “seized Urdu provocative literature and VCD containing the activities of Mujahideen (Holy warriors) in the name of Jehad.”
Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said 27-year-old Abdul Sattar, a resident of Masab Tank in the city, confessed that he illegally crossed Bangladesh border twice and involved in ISI activities.
According to police statement he confessed to have undergone terrorist training at Pakistan in 2004 through the sources of ISI activists under the leadership of Shahed alias Bilal.
“During his stay for the second time at Bangladesh, he learnt to prepare bombs with latest technology.  Shahed handed over Jehadi literature and VCDs containing the Mujahideen (holy warriors) activities with instructions to recruit youth for training at Pakistan and to motivate them for Jehadi activities.  As such, he returned back to Hyderabad to carry out further activities.”
The police statement came a day after a local Urdu newspaper broke the story that Abdul Sattar was illegally sent to Bangladesh by police after the May 18 bomb blast  at Makkah Masjid. According to the newspaper, the police officers helped him cross over to Bangladesh.
He stayed for 10 days in that country but failed to trace Shahed, an alleged operative of Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami. Shahed is from Hyderabad and police claim that he has been active from Bangladesh for last few years.
Curiously some police officers had blamed Shahed within hours after the blast at the mosque. His father Abdul Waheed denied this and claimed that he was innocent. He said Shahed was blamed for any terror activity in Andhra Pradesh and other states.
Abdul Sattar, who was acquitted in an attempt to murder case, was used by police as its informer. After failing to trace Shahed, he crossed over into India a few days back but was caught while doing so by Border Security Force (BSF) in West Bengal.
During the interrogation, Sattar told BSF officials that police had sent him to the neighbouring country as their informer. He even gave names and contact numbers of police officials who had sent him illegally. BSF informed Hyderabad police about this and a team from the city police went to West Bengal and brought him back.
Police kept the whole thing under wraps but the expose in a local newspaper caused much embarrassment. In an attempt to cover up its illegal activity, the police claimed arrest of Abdul Sattar and registered a case against him. He was produced before a magistrate at the latter’s residence and the media was kept away. The youth was later sent to jail.
Abdul Sattar’s is not the only case in which police committed blunders. Shoaib Jagirdar, a meat shop owner from Jalna in Maharashtra was arrested last month by Hyderabad police. His arrest was shown as a major achievement and it was alleged that he supplied RDX for the blast. Shoaib was brought to Hyderabad but no evidence was found linking him to the blast.
Shoaib, 52, however, was arrested under Passport Act for attempting to obtain fake passport for one Sameer alias Nayeem, an alleged operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Hyderabad police claimed on June 17 that Sameer escaped from a police station but was re-arrested by policemen after a hot chase.
The manner in which the probe is being conducted shows that investigators are keen to take the inquiry into a particular direction. Despite repeated demand from the Muslim community, the police is not ready to treat extremist Hindu groups as suspects in the case.