Madrasa student cracks UPSC

Maulana Waseem is a madrassa product who cracked civil services in 2008

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: At a time when eyebrows are being raised on the kind of education being imparted in madrasas across the country, a maulana from the Darul-Uloom-Deoband in Uttar Pradesh has passed the country’s most elite examination, the Civil Services exam, in his fourth attempt. Moreover, for his interview, the maulana took training from the RSS-run institute Samkalp at Paharganj in New Delhi.

Maulana Waseem-ur-Rehman, 31, is the first madrasa product who has cleared the civil services exams in the country. Brother of a truck driver, Rehman comes from a poor family in Siddharth Nagar, Basti, UP. He stood 404th among the 734 successful candidates. Rehman, who took history and Persian as hisoptional subjects, wrote his answer paper in Urdu.

Speaking to TOI, Rehman said that he worked hard for four years to crack the exam. “In my three earlier attempts, I failed in the prelim exams. This time, it being my last chance, I worked harder and made it a point to pass the exams. By the grace of Allah I am among the successful candidates,’’ he said.

Rehman completed his five-year school education from a madrasa, Ahyaul Uloom, before joining the Darul-Uloom-Deoband, the most reputed Islamic institution in the country. He completed the three-year course in Islamic studies, Hadith (sayings of the Prophet), the Quran and Shariat laws from Deoband. “Our Deoband certificate is equivalent to graduation and on the basis of that I took admission in the Bachelor in Unani Medicine and Surgery course in Aligarh. Meanwhile, I realised that students from madrasas hardly think about joining the civil services and becoming part of the system. So I discussed this with my friends and teachers and started collecing books,’’ he said.

‘It was a great time working with Samkalp’
Mumbai: Maulana Waseem-ur-Rehman, who cleared the Civil Service Examination in fourth attempt, is the first madrasa product to pass the country’s most elite exam.

After completing his BUMS, he took admission in Master of Surgery, MD, and also passed this.

Initially, he even did not know that there was a proper syllabus for this exam. “I had to collect the books and notes from several places and would study at night and early in the morning since during the day time I would attend my college for MD course,’’ Rehman said. While his eldest brother does odd jobs, the second is a truck driver and the youngest is doing his MA in Islamic Studies at Aligarh.

Was studying for the Civil Service Exam difficult, since he came from a different academic background? “Yes, but madrasa education has given me the power to think and I have a good knowledge of philosophy as it was explained properly in the madrasa. I worked hard and the rest was in the hands of Allah,’’ said Rehman. Those on the interview panel for the exam asked Rehman to explain why the ratio of males to females is more equal for Muslims than for other communities. “I answered everything in the light of Islam and they were convinced by my replies,’’ he added.

Talking about his experience at the RSSrun Samkalp, Rehman said, “It was a great time. They even informed me that I was selected for the coaching class and called me up regularly until I joined them. I did not feel any biased attitude over there. They are doing a good job,’’ he said. Of 825 IAS aspirants trained by Samkalp, 295 have passed the exam this year.
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India,

Police seek Jolie’s bodyguards

THE BODY & THE GUARD: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie with her ‘racist’ minder

Kartikeya & Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The three bodyguards of star Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who are wanted to stand trial for allegedly intimidating, insulting and assaulting parents at a local school during the shooting of the film A Mighty Heart in Mumbai have failed to turn up for a single court date.

On a visit to Anjuman-e-Islam school in South Mumbai for the shoot on November 16, 2006, a scuffle broke out between the three men—Thomas McAdam (47), Robert Dunn (35) and Michael Brett (50)—and parents who had come to pick up their children. One of the men is alleged to have abused a parent by calling him “You bloody Indian’’. All three bodyguards were arrested the next day and later released on bail.

Jolie herself had strongly denied the charges saying that she would never employ anybody who was racist as her own family was of mixed race. Brad Pitt, who was one of the producers of the film, had even met the then police commissioner A N Roy and said that his men could never hurt children.

But now when the time has come to prove their innocence in court the men are not to be found. All three are British nationals and booked under Section 323 of the IPC for “voluntarily causing hurt’’, under section 504, for “intentional insult to provoke breach of peace’’ and under section 506 for “criminal intimidation’’.

A chargesheet was filed in February 2007 but as the bodyguards failed to appear in court summons were issued asking them to remain present. “The address given by them was the Taj Hotel. The police went there but were told that they had left a long time ago,’’ said inspector Dhananjay Sonawane.

Cops to seek non-bailable warrants for Jolie guards
Mumbai: Thomas McAdam, Robert Dunn and Michael Brett, the British bodyguards of Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt who have been accused of intimidating, insulting and assaulting parents of the students of Anjuman-e-Islam school, have for the last one year failed to turn up whenever the matter has been called out in court. The police said they will now ask the court to issue non-bailable warrants against the accused. The next hearing is on July 8.

The complainant in the case, Zubair Ahmed, a parent who was allegedly roughed up by the bodyguards, said he wanted the trial to start.

“If the men are as innocent as Angelina claimed, then why don’t they come to India and face trial?’’ Ahmed asked.

P0OR RECORDS
One of the accused, Michael Brett, was charged in June 2006 with assaulting a restaurateur in Namibia and injuring his eye. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were in Namibia to have their first biological child. Brett was granted bail.
The bodyguards were caught on camera roughing up a British cameraman in Pune

The Times of India, May 24, 2008

Prank email proves costly for teenager

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: A 16-year-old college student from Gujarat has been arrested and brought to the city for sending an email to a private news channel, threatening to blow up local trains at Andheri railway station.

The teenager, Sunnay Patel, son of a clerk in Ahmedabad, was picked up on Friday from his residence and brought to Mumbai. Patel posed as a member of the Dawood gang and sent an email to the news channel.

His mail read: “There will be blasts in local trains near Andheri railway station. Prevent it, if you can.’’ The mail was sent by a username dgang4blast@yahoo.com.

The only son of his parents Patel a class XI (Science faculty) student, has been sent to the Dongri remand home and will be produced before a juvenile court on Monday.

The teenager said that he had wanted to play a prank on the investigating agencies. The news channel forwarded the email to the cyber crime investigative cell (CCIC) and the Mumbai anti-terrorism squad (ATS). Investigators discovered that the Internet Protocol (IP) address was from Ahmedabad and BSNL was the Internet Service Provider.

Even though the Gujarat anti-terrorism squad was also informed of the details, they unable to nab him.

“We had informed the Gujarat anti-terrorism squad at a time when the user was online and he could have been caught red-handed. However, the Gujarat police reached the spot too late and by that time a Mumbai police team had already left for Ahmedabad. Patel was caught from his residence,’’ said an officer.

WEB CRIME
In September 2006, the ATS had picked up an 18-year-old boy, Sharique Khan, for sending an email to a news channel. The mail written on behalf of a terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Qahar, claimed the responsibility for the serial train blasts in Mumbai on July 11, 2006. Sharique, a college student in Bhopal, had told the investigators that he was very excited and wanted to see the impact of his email on news channels, which ran the story for several days

In another case, Kolkata resident Dinesh Prasad Gupta had in October, 2007 sent an email to the BSE and NSE, threatening to blow up the two installations. He had sent the email to NSE assistant vice-president Sup rabhat Lala. Gupta, who posed as Pakistan’s secret service agency ISI’s agent Abdul Rashman, had written in the mail: “This is to inform you that, within 48 hours of receiving this email, the NSE and BSE buildings will be blown up—From Abdul Rashman, ISI agent.’’ Gupta later told the police that he had suffered a loss in the share market and that is why he had sent a threatening mail.

ATS detains fake note supplier

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: A counterfeit currency supplier was picked up by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) in West Bengal and brought to Mumbai for questioning in connection with the encounter deaths of two suspected Bangladeshi nationals last week.

Abdar Ali Mandal (45) was nabbed from Swaroop Nagar Market near Amudiagon in North 24 Parganas, ATS sources said, adding that he had supplied fake currency amounting to Rs 10 lakh to one of the slain suspects, Mohammed Ali, to circulate in the city. Ali had come to deliver the currency and 2 kg RDX to one Babu when both were shot down by the ATS team in Kashimira, Thane district. Both the bodies are still lying unclaimed at JJ Hospital.

“Mandal is also a wanted accused in a 2007 case when the ATS had arrested six Bangladeshi nationals with Rs 11.25 lakh fake Indian currency. During our the investigation of the Kashimira encounter, we came to know that the fake currency being carried by Ali was supplied by Mandal. More arrests will follow,’’ said ATS chief Hemant Karkare.

Mandal has been sent to police custody till April 2. He had visited Mumbai on several occasions in the past and had “close contacts’’ with several people in the city. The ATS is now preparing a list of such people so that they can be questioned .

The police have also seized several incriminating documents from Mandal. It is learnt that Mandal had supplied fake currency to some more people in the western suburbs, who have reportedly fled after the encounter.

Meanwhile, the Kashimira police have discovered Babu’s hideout in Diva. Searches were on to check if he had hidden some more fake currency or firearms over there. Babu was staying in a flat as a paying guest and the police are trying find out as to who had recommended him to the owner of the house. The police said that they have informed their counterparts in Kolkata to collect information on Babu and Mandal’s connections.

KASHIMIRA ENCOUNTER
Abdar Ali Mandal, who was nabbed in West Bengal, had supplied fake currency amounting to Rs 10 lakh to one of the slain suspects, Mohammed Ali, to circulate in Mumbai. Ali had come to deliver the currency and 2 kg RDX to one Babu when both were shot down

The Times of India, March 21, 2008

Online air ticket fraud: ATS clueless about real culprits

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which arrested eight persons in connection with an online air ticketing fraud, is yet to establish the identity of the Kazakhstan-based accused who allegedly provided credit card numbers to those arrested.

The squad, even after keeping the accused in custody for over one-and-a-half months, is yet to find out how many air tickets were booked through the internet. Moreover, since no one has lodged a complaint, the officials do not know who the victims of the fraud were. A constable himself became the complainant in the case.

The prime job of the ATS is to detect terrorism-related cases and seize narcotics and fake currency. However, this is the first time that the squad is busy probing a cyber crime.

Interestingly, the cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the city crime branch is unaware of this case. In 2007, the CCIC had helped the Economic Offences Wing detect an online ticketing racket by tracing the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the accused. Generally, cases related to credit card fraud and computer are dealt by police stations with assistance from the CCIC.

This case dates back to January 3 when the ATS picked up Sameer Ansari from Dongri and seized fake Indian currency from him. Later, Ashraf Siddiqui alias Captain Ashraf and six others were also arrested. Ansari was also booked for storing obscene clippings in his mobile. The ATS officials said the accused had procured national and international credit card details belonging to foreign nationals from Alu, a Kazakhstan national, and booked flight tickets. The tickets were later sold at a cheaper rate. The squad, however, does not know the exact money involved in the fraud. According to the police, a file called F K Air—found in the message box of Ansari’s mobile, contained the PNR number of air tickets.

“The accused would contact Alu through his emails—lobzine@mail.ru and marketusa@gmail.com—to get details of the credit cards. They had used 15 Master cards and 30 Visa International cards. However, we are yet to find out the details of the victims who suffered loss in the last one year. We are also analysing Ansari’s 12 email IDs. We have written to several Visa and Master card companies to ask about these credit cards but no one has replied yet,’’ said an officer.

The airlines whose tickets were booked include Air India, Jazeera airline, Deccan airlines, Cathay Pacific and Al-Arabia. The accused would send money to Kazakhstan via Dubai through Western Union, the police claimed, adding that they have no record of it.

The ATS seized 10 mobiles, 10 SIM cards, two IBM and a Lenovo laptop, debit and credit cards of HDFC, HSBC and Citybank, and UTI, ICICI bank’s HP Visa card, HDFC bank’s Easy shop debit card, international debit cards, three PAN cards, identity cards as field officer of T & T company, Rs 24,000 and fake currency with the face value Rs 20,000. Moreover, the police claimed to have seized a MoserBaer CD containing clippings of WTC 9/11 attack, bomb blasts and war.

The Times of India, February 25, 2008

Maoist menace : Urban scare

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
MUMBAI: The Maoist menace is no longer confined to the jungles. Last year, India’s financial capital got a Naxal scare. With the arrest of a few activists in August, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police claimed to have busted a Maoist think tank, which was trying to indoctrinate and recruit people, and collecting funds for the organisation. Police believe that the Maoists are slowly and quietly making a base in the city. The police also suspect that the rebels might have some dangerous plans for the city. These fears stem from the fact that during the arrests of the suspected Maoists last year, the police recovered some detonators, a hand grenade, two firearms and 20 gelatin sticks.

According to police sources, Maoists have also articulated a new strategy to target urban centres in India, drawing up “guidelines for working in towns and cities”, and for the revival of a mobilisation effort targeting students and the urban unemployed. In 2006, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Lok Sabha that Maoists were planning to target important installations in major cities, including Mumbai.

But, there is no immediate threat. “There is no armed activity in Mumbai at the moment and the Maoists have kept their activities limited to propagating their ideology, setting up secret cells for frontal organisations and recruiting people,’’ says a police sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Maoists are trying to spread their movement among trade and labour unions, poor people and students. According to police sources, there are some 75 Maoists in Mumbai. Most of them are not active members of the banned CPI (Maoist), but they sympathise with the leftist group’s cause. “We have come across several such people and are in the process of identifying them and preparing dossiers on them,” says an officer involved in the investigation.

The police believe that the Maoists come to Mumbai to regroup. “They are using Mumbai as a place of rest, planning and recruitment. The guerrillas who get injured in encounters with the police are sent to Naxal dens in Mumbai for treatment, education and relaxation,” says the officer.

Apprehending a major problem cropping up sometime soon, the ATS is getting inputs from the Special Branch and the State Intelligence Department (SID) about the Maoists and keeping an eye on some people. “Over half a dozen lawyers are on our radar but we cannot arrest them if there is no evidence against them,” says an ATS officer.

While Mumbai may be safe for the moment, sources claim that the Maoists definitely have plans to take their war to other urban centres. The rebels, the sources add, have plans to strike in the industrial belts of Bhilai-Ranchi-Dhanbad-Calcutta and Mumbai-Pune-Surat-Ahmedabad to take their battle into the heart of India.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 17, 2008

Victims steer clear of FIRs for fear of publicity

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: A few months ago, the cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the crime branch received a complaint from the director of a private firm stating that a 62-year-old man, who had retired from the armed forces, had clicked photographs of her in a compromising position and sent it to her husband and relatives via email.

The 47-year-old victim, a resident of Walkeshwar in south Mumbai, had befriended the man in the course of her work and the relationship had got physical. Over the last five years, without her knowledge, the accused had taken photographs of her in a compromising position with him. He had emailed them to her family to spite her when he found out she was travelling abroad with a few male colleagues. The only hitch was she was not ready to lodge an FIR as she feared that the case would attract publicity.

“This is why the accused in most web crimes get away.. The victims, mostly women and girls, are reluctant to file an official complaint fearing a lot of media attention. They do not want to get entangled in court procedures either,’’ said an officer from the cell.

In most such cases, the victims approach the police in order to verify or trace the identity of the person responsible for putting out the email or other offensive material on the internet. In the last one year alone, CCIC has received at least 15 informal complaints where obscene profiles, photos and addresses of young women and teenagers have been posted on networking sites on the internet.

The victims have approached the police after receiving calls from unknown people asking for sexual favours. Despite the lack of a formal complaint, the CCIC has sought to trace the identity of the culprit in some cases. In others, they have merely advised the victims to lodge an FIR in order to press charges.

“Investigations show that in 70% cases, the accused are known to the victims,’’ said an officer. Police said very often, photographs and other personal details are exchanged during the good times in a relationship. But when it deteriorates, those jilted try to retaliate using the net as a tool. “Earlier we would find the involvement of youngsters. Now a days even older people are involved in such crimes,’’ an officer said.

On receiving a complaint, the CCIC usually checks the Header of the email to trace the Internet Protocol (IP) address. The IP address number, if put in the search column of a website, whoisdomaintools.com, reveals the identity of the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Subsequently, a letter is sent to the concerned ISP asking for details on the person who held the IP address. The details, if available, helps the cyber police to nab the accused.

Similarly, for malicious scraps about individuals posted on social networking sites, a request is sent to the concerned ISP. If the ISP is based abroad, the CCIC sends a request through a ‘letter rogatory’ which has to spell out case details in 45-50 pages. The request is then filed through Interpol.

For blocking a website in India, the CCIC has to approach the Computer Emergency Response Team which comes under the ministry of Information and Technology.

CYBER CRIMES IN MUMBAI
A group of students, all girls, from the psychology department of Mumbai University, approached the CCIC in 2005, complaining that they had received morphed photographs on email showing one of their classmates naked. Police found one of the girls had broken off with her boyfriend recently. But as it transpired, she created an email ID in the name of her boyfriend’s cousin, who lived in Dubai, and forwarded the photos herself to the boyfriend and all her classmates to gain sympathy from him and her friends. No FIR was filed.

A software engineer, who wanted to marry an ex-classmate, learnt that she was getting married and began sending abusive and vulgar emails to the girl and her fiance. The girl, who was working with a security agency, then approached the CCIC. Investigators zeroed in on the culprit and when the girl found out who the culprit was, she was shocked, but she refused to file an FIR.

A former student of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, now employed with a leading media house, started receiving obscene emails soon after she sent out invites for her wedding to all her friends. The mails were traced to a former classmate.

The Times of India, January 24, 2008