Second Blunder Shames India Again
Mateen Hafeez & Swati Deshpande TNN
Mumbai: A list of terrorists with which the government had hoped to build pressure on Islamabad has entangled the home ministry in a series of goof-ups— the latest being that of a terrorist, said to be a fugitive in Pakistan, who was found locked up in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail.Two days after TOI reported that Wazhul Kamar Khan, one of those mentioned in the 50 mostwanted list of terror suspects, was living at his Thane residence, a 1993 bomb blast accused Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan alias Ferozuddin alias Hamza has been discovered in Arthur Road jail, where he has been locked up since February 2010.
“We have an inmate called Feroze Khan in the Arthur Road jail,” confirmed inspectorgeneral of prisons Surendra Kumar.
As the Union home ministry asked officers to check all data bases and ensure the other 48 names were correct, CBI, which had provided most names, suspended a junior inspector and transferred an SP and a DySP from the Interpol Division in New Delhi as the first damage-control step.
The second embarrassment comes after Union home minister P Chidambaram’s admission that the first blunder was the result of a lapse by the Intelligence Bureau and Mumbai Police in preparing the list. The fact that at least two of the 50 persons named as being sheltered in Pakistan, are actually living in India, in prison or outside, could weaken India’s carefully-built case against Pakistan for sheltering terror accused. State home minister R R Patil refused to admit any knowledge of Feroze Khan. “We (the state home department) are not aware of the list compiled by the Centre”, he said in a terse one-line response.
MOST WANTED
Trip to Omangave Feroze Abdul away
Mumbai: Two days after TOI reported that Wazhul Kamar Khan,oneof those mentioned in the 50 most-wanted list of terror suspects, was living at his Thane residence, a 1993 bomb blast accused Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan alias Ferozuddin alias Hamza has been discovered in Arthur Road jail, where he has been locked up since February 2010.
But that a blame game was in the offing was evident from a senior state minister’s response.“Central agencieslike the IB and the Research and AnalysisWing (R&AW)usually do notconsultstate-level police agencies while compiling such lists,” the minister said. What might add to the law-enforcing agenciesdiscomfiture is the fact that Feroze was produced before a special Tada court on May 11 and Tada judge S T Mahajan had rejected his bail application barely a month back. It was the first time he sought bail since his arrest. He will be produced in court next on May 23, the next scheduled date in the 1993 blasts case for him.
The 51-year-old Feroze, according to the most-wanted list,is a DawoodIbrahim gang member and wanted for helping in landing RDX and firearms prior to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. Between 2004 and 2010, before his arrest in February 2010, he divided his time between the Middle East and a village in Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai, where he lived under an assumed name and with a forged passport and ran a mobile phone business.
Khan,son of a retiredIndian Navy officer, came to India for the first time in 2004 under an assumed name after fleeing the country in the aftermath of the 1993 blasts. He then again went back to the Middle East and then returned to Navi Mumbai before finally being arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch on February 5, 2010, and handed over to the CBI.
“Khan arrived here from Sultanateof Oman andthe police got a tip-off that he was staying in Navi Mumbai”, former joint commissioner of the crime branch Rakesh Maria had said at a press briefing at his arrest. He was living with his parents in NaviMumbaiwhen hewas arrested.
Feroze’s lawyer Farhana Shah said he had never been moved from the Arthur Road prison since his arrest in February 2010. Khan’s trial is yet to begin. The CBI, said Shah, wanted to club his trial with that of Mustafa Dossa’s but had not made any formal application yet in court.
Mumbai police, at the time of his arrest, had said Feroze was suspected to be a close aide of absconding accused MohammedDossa andwasinvolved in transporting and distribution of arms and ammunition. Dossa and his men, on Dawoods instructions, arranged for the landing of arms allegedly used in the blast at Dighi in Raigad in 1993. Feroze allegedly transported these explosives to his residence in suburban Kurla. The ISI-engineered Dawood Ibrahim-backed act of terror on March 12, 1993, left 257 persons dead and 713 injured, besides damaging property to the tune of Rs 27 crore.
TheCBI,on July 1,2010,filed a 1,000-plus-page charge sheet and charged him under Tada for conspiring and committing acts of terror, under the Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons, under the Explosives Act and Explosives Substances Act as well as under the Indian Penal Code for murder, attempt to murder and for destruction of public property. Advocate Shah, however, said, “He never went to Pakistan for weapons training as alleged”.
Khan has developed skin problems in jail and is a diabetic said his lawyer. He is requesting better medical attention in jail and will make these grievances before the court soon.
TERROR TO ERROR
CHARGES
Facilitating landing of arms and ammunition at Dighi jetty in Raigad on January 9, 1993. The explosives were used in the March 12, 1993, serial blasts in Mumbai
Conspiring and terrorism acts under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act Murder, criminal conspiracy under Indian Penal Code
Possession of arms under Arms Act
Violating Explosives and Explosives Substances Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act
END GAME
Absconding since 1994.
Accused of undergoing arms and weapons training in Pakistan. Rs 2 lakh bounty on his head
Returned to India in 2004. Settled down in Navi Mumbai’s Koparkhairane
with parents. Ran small business
Arrested on February 5, 2010, from Koparkhairane
Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan alias Hamza alias Totla (51) Unmarried
l Currently in Arthur Road jail l Chargesheeted in July 2010 l Appeared in Tada court
last on May 11, 2011
l Currently in Arthur Road jail l Chargesheeted in July 2010 l Appeared in Tada court
last on May 11, 2011
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