Man accused of sending terror email after blast acquitted

 Ejaz Shaikh

Mateen Hafeez





Mumbai:  A Sewri court on Tuesday discharged Ejaz Shaikh (28), a suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, in a case of sending terror email after the 2010 Varanasi bomb blast.
Shaikh, a Pune resident, was first arrested on September 6, 2014, from outside Saharanpur station in UP by the Delhi Police's special cell. Later, he was taken into custody by the Maharashtra ATS for his alleged role in providing logistics in the 2010 Pune German Bakery blast, the 137 Mumbai triple blasts and the Varanasi email case. On February 6, this year, Mumbai crime branch's cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) took Shakih in custody for allegedly sending another terror email after a blast outside Delhi's Jama Masjid.

“During the investigation, the police did not find evidence against Shaikh and hence we filed an application under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requesting the court to discharge him from the case,“ confirmed a senior ATS officer. Shaikh's lawyer, advocate Tahawwar Rana, said, “We have been saying my client is innocent. Today , the court has discharged him.“

On December 7, 2010, a day after the completion of 18 years of Babri Masjid's dem olition, an email was sent from Mansarovar building, Section 17, Vashi, claiming responsibility of the Varanasi blast. The sender had hacked into the unsecured WiFi of the sixth floor residents. The email was sent with a subject, “Indian Mujahideen ­ Let's feel the pain together“, and the mail focused mainly on the Babri Masjid demolition and Ayodhya verdict.

The police had earlier said that besides sending emails, Sheikh used to provide logistics to the IM men in India and prepared fake identities needed by them to procure mobile SIM cards, collecting foreign money transfers, obtaining rooms on rent and even in getting enrolled in professional educational institutions as a cover, police said. Police said he was never present during the actual crime.

The Times of India, Apirl 8, 2015

Police run ragged by `vague' alerts

 

Mateen Hafeez I TNN





Mumbai: Over 200 Yemenis entered India and we must look for them, stated one of the terror alerts issued by a security agency last month.This was one of over a dozen alerts issued to the Maharashtra police with no specific information or details.

 During 2014, various security agencies issued as many as 450 alerts, including 72 terror-related alone.
“We checked the records of foreigners' registration regional office, hotels where Yemenis stay , tourist places etc. However, we did not find a single `suspect' as mentioned in the terror alert,“ said a senior police officer, criticizing the way the central intelligence agencies issue such alerts.

Among the 450 alerts issued last year, 35 were issued by central agencies. Among the alerts issued last year, 13 were related to the underworld, while 72 were regarding terror attacksoperatives. A major chunk of these alerts was non-verified and vague.

The state police, in most of the cases, don't know which agency issued the alert since many times the alerts are filtered through the state intelligence department (SID). “After the 2611 terror attacks that killed 166, we take the alerts seriously .However, there are too many alerts to read and implement,“ complained a security officer.
Senior officials in the security establishment pointed out that since several agencies like the CISF, Intelligence Bureau, R&AW, National Technical Research Organization, Navy , financial intelligence, Railways, SID and the city's special branch are engaged into collecting intelligence they `try to prove their worth by generating alerts.' The officer said, “We are flooded by these alerts nowadays. There are many inputs and while a few of them are genuine, most of the alerts are unspecified, vague or not clear. “The agencies issuing terror alerts should demonstrate some kind of responsibility . They should verify some of the inputs before issuing the terror alerts. In other words, such alerts are like the mischief calls make to the police control rooms randomly .“





In Mumbai, the joint commissioner of police (law and order), chairs the `intelligence alerts review committee' meeting every month. The meeting is attended by officials of the ATS, special branch, crime branch, protection and security units. “The committee members discuss the various alerts and talk about action taken on them. It's more of an information sharing meeting,“ said an officer.
Rakesh Maria, city police commissioner, who had earlier headed the state anti-terrorism squad for nearly four years, said, “All terror alerts are welcome and important.They cannot be neglected and need a through probe and inquiry .“

A senior police inspector in the city said that most times they receive “copied inputs“ in the form of terror alerts. “These alerts don't speak about suspects' names, area, location or other details. In fact, we don't know how seriously the field soldiers, mostly constables, take it. If you ask me, I suggest there should not be general alerts at all. The alerts should contain specific information and the number of alerts yearly should be reduced,“ the officer said.


The Times of India, March 30, 2015

Bldr dubbed Pak spy relives trauma, asks cops to trace culprit

Mateen Hafeez

Mumbai: 



The Khar developer, who was wrongfully dubbed a Pakistani spy by the security agencies in a recent terror alert, said the police should now focus on tracing the culprit behind the goof-up.

“The alert said I would carry out bomb blasts on the counting day (May 16). Subsequently , two policemen accompanied me for two days wherever I went and did not leave me alone for a minute,“ the developer told TOI. The victim said his trauma had begun since May 10. One of his sons, who helps him in the construction business, said, “Initially a policeman from the Bandra-Kurla police station arrived at our office and said he wanted to buy a flat in our project. He had apparently observed each and every object in the office, the staff as well as the place where my father sits.
He could not inquire much since neither my father nor I was present there. Later, when I went to meet him at the police station, his body language was quite different. He then revealed that the cops had received an alert about my father,“ said the 24-year-old son of the developer.

The cops reportedly did not divulge anything to the rest of the family members.
The developer, born and brought up in Mumbai, has three sons. The eldest one is a civil engineer, second an MBA, and the youngest is an architect. “Policemen from eight agencies came to me inquiring about my credentials. They also questioned people in our locality about us. I was not scared. Why should I?“ he said.

The first agency to reach his office was the anti-terrorism squad followed by the crime branch and the special branch. “They took note of the vehicles I use, my children use and whether our business involves cash transactions or cheques. We maintain records of all our transactions,“ the developer said. He reportedly prepared a file containing documents like his birth certificate, school and college certificates, voter ID, business transaction details to convince the cops about his innocence.
He is completing a Rs 125crore project at Chembur and another Rs 400-crore project is in the pipeline. “It's the police's duty to find who sent them the letter labeling me a terrorist,“ said the builder, who was given a clean chit.

The Times of India, May 26, 2014

`Pak bomber' in terror alert with pic turns out to be Khar developer

Mateen Hafeez





Intel Forwarded Input, Didn't Bother To Verify

 

Mumbai: The quality of our `terror alerts' and the callousness of our security agencies in dealing with them were exposed in a recent case when a person was cleared of trying to set off blasts in the city by the police and the AntiTerrorism Squad.

 

The Intelligence Bureau (IB), the country's premier internal intelligence agency , received a letter in New Delhi about a “Pakistani spy“ in Mumbai who, along with his associate, was planning to carry out blasts on Lok Sabha election results day (May 16) at targets like the Siddhivinayak temple, Mantralaya, the NSE building, Haji Ali dargah, etc.

The letter said Pakistani national M Ansari (TOI is withholding the real name), who has an office on Khar Link Road, has close connections with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and meets Pakistani agents in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A photograph, purporting to be Ansari's, was enclosed (TOIhas a copy).

The IB promptly forwarded the letter to the city police (see box), which in turn dispatched the `terror alert'. The Delhi IB headquarters also shared the information with the state IB.
Strangely , despite the details included in the letter, no IB official or even state IB official try to verify the allegations.

In the meantime, some of the “targets“ received similar letters and approached the local police. An official from a “target“ in BKC said in a letter to the senior inspector of the local police station that they had received a letter on May 9 addressed to chief officer, IB. The letter was signed by one Ahmed Sh aikh, a resident of Nayanagar in Mira Road, and gave the same details about Ansari.
“After receiving the letter, we appointed a special officer from the anti-terror cell to inquire. He found Ansari was a developer and had nothing to do with terrorism. Some business rival might have tried to defame him,” a senior BKC police officer told TOI. The police could not trace the Nayanagar address of the sender.

On May 13, the joint commissioner of police (law and order) forwarded the ‘intelligence input’ from IB; the police and ATS swung into action. “We verified the allegations in the letter. They turned out to be false,” said a senior ATS official, adding that forwarding such unverified ‘intelligence inputs’ is a general practice of IB which mostly embarrass the local police.

“Senior intelligence officials do not want to take responsibility of failure. Whatever input they get, they forward. In most cases, the alerts are either vague or non-actionable,” said a security official who did want to be named. In 2013, Maharashtra police got/shared around 200 alerts; around 170 were nonactionable, he added.


The Times of India, May 22, 2014

Red alert: Airstrips may be used for terror attack

 

Security To Be Beefed Up Across State

 

Mateen Hafeez & Manju V | TNN

Mumbai: Intelligence agencies have sounded a terror red alert over the possible use of any one of Maharashtra’s 24 unused or little-used airstrips to launch unmanned light aircraft laden with explosives.
 

    The alert has been shot off to all security agencies, which have been asked to monitor unused air strips against launch of attacks on civilians and military establishments. The city’s Juhu airport and the international airport are also under the scanner. 

    The two-page intelligence alert, issued on September 21, specifically mentions names of airports that require tighter security.   “There is a likely threat of utilization of unused air strips by anti-national elements to launch lightweight airplanes with an aim to target civilian and military establishments of key importance,” the alert communication stated. It further listed names of all such airstrips in Maharashtra (see box). 

    The commandant CISF has also been alerted. Other than CISF, this copy has been sent to the city crime branch, state ATS, special branch and state intelligence bureau. 

    Sources said India, like the US, Europe and Australia, has a large number of “uncontrolled” airfields or airstrips that are not serviced by air traffic control. What this means is that an aircraft can land or take off from these strips without attracting attention. Some of these airstrips are in Augrangabad, Jalgaon, Nagpur and Lonavla , among others. 

    “We have discussed this alert with our officers and will help the concerned agencies with whatever input and information we have. We are also keeping an eye on people who have knowledge of airports or have travelled in airplanes in recent past,” said a security officer.   Since these airstrips don’t generate revenue, their owners, be it the government or a private party, spend little on critical essentials such as perimeter fencing and security personnel. 

    These airstrips cannot support heavy commercial passenger aircraft. Most can handle small aircraft; for instance, a single engine, twoseater, piston aircraft such as a Cessna 152, which is capable of carrying a payload of 50 kg. This can pose a serious security hazard.
 

JUHU AIRPORT: A FREE-FOR-ALL?
 

The Proposal A plan to deploy 117 state police personnel is pending with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security since two months. AAI and BCAS have been promising security at the airport for two years now. There hasn’t been any change in the situation on the ground till date, though
 

Easy Entry Points Missing boundary wall: A 6km stretch of Juhu airport’s boundary wall is dilapidated, and a 1.5km stretch is completely broken and encroached upon. Some parts of the boundary wall were rebuilt but the aerodrome is still an open fi eld, easy to enter through the city side
 

Slum Encroachment Slums are spread over 29 acres of land inside the airport, barely 100 metres from the secondary runway. This poses several risks —slumdwellers play cricket on the runway, and several small thefts and damage to aircraft have also been reported
 

DISMAL SECURITY
    No CISF presence: There are no CISF personnel nor security forces to man the airport’s boundary wall. The airport is guarded by around 30 police personnel who find it tough to stay there round the clock due to lack of basic facilities such as washrooms and toilets
    There are no CCTVs
    Security checks of people entering the airport are done individually by the various companies using the aerodrome instead of a nodal public agency

The Times of India, October 1, 2013