Protesters snatched guns, fired in air, show CCTV

A video grab shows a protester wielding an SLR on Saturday

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The special investigation team (SIT) probing Saturday’s violence outside Azad Maidan has found from video footage that a section of protesters snatched self-loading rifles (SLRs) from policemen and started firing in the air. One clip shows a man in his thirties wearing kurta pyjama walking around with an SLR. His identity is yet to be established. 

    “There are other videos where the protesters are seen snatching the rifles from the police and firing in the air,” a senior crime branch officer said. 

    Police had to resort to firing to control the mob that went on the rampage. Two persons were killed and 63 injured, including 58 policemen, in the violence. Autopsy reports of the two dead have confirmed that they died from bullet injuries but it is not known whether they died in police firing or stray bullets from the snatched rifles hit them. Police also suspect that private firearms were used during the violence.
   

 Two SLRs, 150 rounds of ammunition and a service pistol of a police inspector were snatched by the mob. The police have been able to recover two SLRs and 29 rounds of ammunition but the rest are still missing.  

 

EVENING OF ANARCHY Ahle Hadees Group Under Police Scanner As Rioters Came From Sect’s Strongholds, Cops Say Innocents Will Be Released 3 more detained for Saturday’s rioting 

 
Mumbai: After Saturday’s violence outside Azad Maidan, 23 people have been arrested and charged with attempt to murder, rioting, molestation and destruction of properties and have been remanded in custody till August 19. But police officials said around five-six of them may be innocent and will be released. “Once we are sure that a few of the arrested boys have no role to play, we will move the court asking them to discharge them under Section 169 of the CrPC,” the officer said. 

    On Wednesday, the SIT detained three more people from Dongri to probe their involvement in the rioting. “The three had injury marks on their bodies and they told us that they were beaten up by the mob. They admitted to their presence at Azad Maidan but said they had come to see what was happening there. We will arrest them depending on the role they played in the violence,” the officer said.
 

    The police are also focusing on identifying two youths who desecrated the 1857 Martyrs’ Memorial near Azad Maidan, the venue of the protest. “We have activated all our informants and are hoping to get a lead soon,” a police source said. The police have sent the suspects’ photographs to all the police stations and its network of informants. 

    Meanwhile, one of the Islamic sects, Ahle Hadees, has come under police scanner. This sect is being suspected because a big group of protesters came from Kurla, Govandi and Mumbra and these are the strongholds of Ahle Hadees in Mumbai. On the basis of information provided by some informers, the cops are trying to verify if the Ahle Hadees group had instigated some elements for rioting during the protest rally. Despite repeated attempts, Maulana Abdus Salam Salfi, head of Ahle Hadees Jamaat in Mumbai couldn’t be contacted for comments. 

    A puritanical group, Ahle Hadees sect is ideologically close to the Wahabis, who harbour extreme views. They are active in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. In Pakistan, Sunni congregations have been targeted by the Wahabis. However, in India they are not known to have attacked the Sunnis.
 

   The ideological father of Ahle Hadees in India is 18th century scholar Shah Waliullah. Since the Sunnis and Barelvis stridently criticize the Ahle Hadees, this sect might have incited a group to sabotage the protest meet organized by the Sunni groups on Saturday, police believe.
 

Be tolerant, leaders tell youth
    Taking advantage of the Independence Day celebrations, community leaders called upon the Muslim youth to shun emotionalism, join the mainstream and take advantage of India’s economic growth. They told the youngsters to have faith in India’s secularism and be tolerant towards other cultures and faiths. Addressing teachers and students at Anjuman-e-Islam’s headquarters near CST, close to the site of Saturday’s vandalism, its president Dr Zahir Kazi said that Saturday’s violence was unwarranted and condemnable. “Secularism is our strength and patriotismmust be given top priority. Anjuman-e-Islam has a great responsibility to uphold nationalism. We must prove by example,” he said. He also asked the youngsters not to take law into their hands and not to indulge in wanton violence in order to lodge their protest. “To protest is everyone’s democratic right but it should be peaceful. Muslims must follow the Quranic commandments,” he counselled.
    —Mohammed Wajihuddin

 

 

The Times of India, August 16, 2012

Mentor working for Saudi govt, says Jundal

26/11 TRAIL

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Zabihuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal (31) suspects that his mentor, Fayyaz Kagzi, was working for the Saudi government. He said Kazgi tipped off security agencies about his whereabouts before he was kept under surveillance.
 

    Jundal told the police on Tuesday that Kagzi may have given his mobile number to the police, which led to his arrest.   Currently in the custody of the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS), Jundal revealed this during his interrogation at the crime branch lock-up last week. “I left Pakistan and went to Saudi Arabia. Last year, I telephoned Muzammil, an LeT area commander in India, and took Kagzi’s number. Later, I spoke to Kagzi and thereafter I felt that I was being monitored. However, I could not do anything to avoid it,” Jundal is believed to have told the police in Mumbai. 

    Jundal is wanted in four terror-related cases in Maharashtra: 26/11 terror attack, 2006 Aurangabad arms haul, Pune German Bakery bomb blast and Nashik police academy attack planning.
 

    Jundal told the police that after fleeing India, he went to Pakistan via Bangladesh and found Kagzi there. “Jundal told us that after seeing Kagzi near an LeT camp, he thought Kagzi may have been chased by the police and fled. However, he later realized that Kagzi was missing since they planned the arms haul transportation,” a police officer said. Jundal himself worked as a police informer before he fled Pakistan, it is learned.
 

    He shared contact details of Kagzi with the police. According to Jundal, he last saw Kagzi in Saudi Arabia and met him there too. “Jundal told the police that he met Kagzi in Saudi Arabia and they discussed several things. Kagzi told Jundal that he was working in the Gulf and had no plans to return to India,” said an officer.
 

    Jundal told the police that the ammunition that he transported till Chandwad near Manmad, was supposed to be kept at Kagzi’s house in Beed. “However, during the arms haul case, Kagzi went missing and never returned home. It became difficult for us to think of a safe place to keep the arms and ammunition,” Jundal told the police.

 

The Times of India, August 15, 2012

Group of 36 started violence, say police

S Ahmed Ali & Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: After two days of investigation into Saturday’s violence, police said it was a group of 36 youth who started the entire violence, while five of the 23 held have criminal connections. Police also said they have identified 14 people among the 60-70 youths who damaged public and private property and attacked policemen and media personnel.
 

    “From the CCTV footage obtained from the railways, it appears that this group arrived by local trains and started ransacking the shops in the subway. They then proceeded to Azad Maidan. They did not enter the ground but picked up a fight with the policemen who were stationed outside, when they refused to let them in as the meeting had almost come to an end,” a police officer said.
 

    Police said they are trying to find out whether they were instigated by any particular group to carry out violence.
 

    Sources said the 14 who have been identified are from Kasaiwada in Kurla (E), Shivaji Nagar in Govandi and Mumbra in Thane and all of them were missing from their homes.
 

    Police sources said they were identified with the help of community leaders, locals and informers using the CCTV footages. “We are looking for those who have been captured in the videos,” joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy said.
 

    Meanwhile, the police have found that five of the 23 arrested have previous criminal records and have been called in at police stations for their role in rioting and assault cases. “One of the two deceased, Umer Shaikh, who was found dead near the CST railway station, had four cases against him. He was earlier involved in assault and rioting cases,” said a police source.
 

    They said the rest of the 18 do not have any police records and their relatives claimed that they had gone to Azad Maidan to see the protest rally.
 

    The special investigation team (SIT) that is probing the case has sent summons to 17 religious leaders, including a retired assistant commissioner of police Shamsher Khan Pathan, who were on the dias. SIT sources said though these 17 are not accused but their names have been mentioned in the FIR and police are scanning CCTV footages to find out if any of them gave any provocative speech that led to rioting and arson. 

    Highly placed sources said the home department is likely to reward all those policemen who took prompt action with gallantry awards. Sources said that police commissioner is now making a list of policemen, many of the lady constables, who did their duty without fear. 

 
CM Chavan briefs PM, Sonia Gandhi
    Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and briefed them about the Mumbai violence. Chavan also sought assistance from the intelligence bureau to probe the role of foreign hand. 

 
‘Crime branch free, so given probe’
    Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik on Monday told media that the investigation of the Saturday’s violence was handed over to the crime branch as they are free and have no work. The crime branch has formed the special investigating team (SIT) to probe into it. 

 
Few websites blocked
    Police have blocked some social networking sites, including indianarmyfans. com, that were showing morphed pictures. “We have also written to Google and Facebook. There are rumours that it originated from Pakistan, but it has not been confirmed,” ACP Niket Kaushik said. 

The Times of India, August 15, 2012

EOW arrests Agarwal in bomb suit case

Anticipatory Bail Denied, Bizman Held In 6.5cr Case  

 

Mateen Hafeez & Rebecca Samervel TNN

Mumbai: The economic offences wing (EOW) on Monday arrested city-based businessman Bimal Agarwal for cheating the state government of Rs 6.25 crore by giving low-quality bomb disposal suits. Agarwal had bagged a tender to provide 82 bomb disposal suits to the state.
 
    The arrest came after a sessions court rejected the anticipatory bail applications of both Agarwal and his wife Bina.   Agarwal will be produced before a court on Tuesday. His two bank accounts were frozen in March this year.
 
    The court rejected the bail applications after allowing attempts at mediation that eventually failed. The prosecution, through special public prosecutor Raja Thakre, had sought aRs 10-crore bank guarantee to be given to the DGP’s office, but defence lawyer Vibhav Bagade said his client was ready to give aRs 6.5-crore guarantee, which was equivalent to the tender amount. A consensus could not be reached and the court posted the matter for final orders.
 
    Following the 26/11 attacks, the DGP’s office issued tenders for 74 bomb disposal suits in December 2008 and eight suits in February 2009. A contract for 82 suits was awarded to Agarwal and a payment of Rs 6.25 crore was made to him on March 31, 2009. However, he failed to deliver a single bomb disposal suit.
 
    TOI, on September 29, 2011, had reported how the state had paid the businessman the full amount but not a single suit was delivered. The home department has contended that the suits that have been viewed don’t conform to the tender conditions and the trader is not prepared for pre-delivery inspection of all the goods.
 
    Home minister R R Patil had then said that since Agarwal was not prepared for predelivery inspection and verification of the goods as per the tender conditions, the entire contract should be cancelled. Patil also ordered other payments to the businessman to be stopped, which might have gone up to Rs 10-13 crore. Sources said Agarwal also secured orders to supply multiutility police belts and uniform items (like caps), etc. The case was initially handed to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and then the EOW.
 
    In his bail application, Agarwal had alleged that he was falsely implicated by some senior IPS officers. He further stated that the fact of failure to perform as per the tender document had already been brought to the notice of the Bombay High Court and the state government.
 

SECURITY AT STAKE
 
December 2008 and February 2009 | The director general of police’s office issued two tenders for bomb disposal suits, one for 74 suits another for 8 suits  
March 31, 2009 | An order for 82 suits was given to businessman Biman Agarwal, who quoted the lowest rate of 7.5 lakh a suit. An amount of 6.25 crore was paid to Agarwal for the suits 
March 2011 | The trader did not deliver a single bomb suit in two years. While the state government said that samples submitted for inspection were inferior, Agarwal insisted that the government was not accepting the consignment on an as-is-where-is-basis  

2011 | After a complaint lodged by senior IPS offi cer P K Jain and additional chief secretary U C Sarangi stepped in, the case was entrusted to the ACB. The ACB found that while the tender was fl oated for 74 suits, an order was placed for 82 suits, in blatant violation of the tender conditions. The DGP’s office had in fact not accepted the second tender (for 8 suits) saying that the cost was too high
September 2011 | Home minister R R Patil promises action against offi cials after TOI reports that not a single bomb disposal suit was delivered in two years
March 2012 | The case was transferred to the EOW. Agarwal approached court for anticipatory bail
June 27, 2012 | The court floated a possible option of mediation
July 19, 2012 | Court is informed that the mediation process to resolve the dispute has failed
August 13, 2012 | Police arrest Agarwal after his anticipatory bail application is rejected

The Times of India, August 14, 2012

ATS gets Jundal’s custody in arms haul case

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Monday secured the custody of suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Zabihuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case. He will be produced before a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday.
 

    Jundal was first arrested by the Delhi police on June 25 after he was deported from Saudi Arabia. On July 20, the Mumbai crime branch took Jundal into custody in the 26/ 11 terror attack case. Jundal is suspected to be one of the handlers of the 10 Pakistani terrorists involved in the 26/11 carnage and had had allegedly taught them Hindi. Last
week, Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab identified Jundal as his handler.
 

    Metropolitan magistrate P S Rathod awarded Jundal’s custody to the ATS a day after he recorded his confessional statement.
 

    In its Aruangabad arms haul case chargesheet, the ATS said one of its teams chased a Tata Sumo and an Indica on Chandawd-Manmad highway near Aurangabad on May 8, 2006 and arrested three suspects. The team seized 30kg RDX, 10 AK-47 assault rifles and 3,200 bullets from them. Later, the police seized 13kg RDX, six AK-47s, 50 hand grenades and two swords from other suspects. Those arrested reportedly told the police that the consignment was brought by Jundal, who had fled. The source of the arms and ammunition is still not known. Jundal will be questioned about it, said sources.
 

    Meanwhile, prison authorities on Monday moved an application in the magisterial court, saying it was not safe to keep Jundal in Byculla jail, where he is currently lodged, and sought court’s permission to move him to a more secure prison. The court has kept the matter pending as Jundal will be in ATS custody for some time. 

 
ATS CASES AGAINST ABU JUNDAL
2010 Nashik terror attack case | One person is arrested and Jundal is shown as a wanted accused for planning an attack on the Nashik police academy. Explosives are recovered from the arrested accused  

 

2010 German Bakery case | A bomb goes off inside Pune’s German Bakery, killing 17. Jundal is one of the wanted accused in the case
 

2006 Aurangabad arms haul case | The ATS arrests three suspects and seizes 30kg RDX, 10 AK-47s and 3,200 bullets. Later, the cops seize 13kg RDX, six AK-47s, 50 hand grenades and two swords from other suspects. Twenty-two people arrested in the case so far

The Times of India, August 14, 2012

Waiting for iftar, family gets Shaikh’s body

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The family of Mohammed Umer Shaikh, who died in Saturday’s violence, said they were waiting for him to come with iftar to break their Ramzan fast, but instead it was the 25-year-old’s body that reached their home at Garib Nagar slum outside Bandra railway station. “He was fast asleep till afternoon. At 2pm, he woke up, dressed and left saying he was going to Azad Maidan,” said his young er brother Rashid, who had acc o m p a n i e d him. “We were all together till police started lathicharge.” 

    Rashid said they got separated and tried contacting his brother but his phone was switched off, so he left for home as it was time to break the fast. “Only an hour later, I received a call saying that there was a body which I have to identify. When I went to the hospital, I was shocked to see my brother lying in a pool of blood,” said Rashid, who sells leather belts at the Bandra railway station’s foot over bridge. 

    Siddiqa, Shaikh’s wife, was inconsolable. “Why did you leave me alone? Come back and take me with you?” she cried. The couple got married five years ago and has a three-and-a-half-yearold handicapped son Oman. “Oman cannot sit or stand. He just lies down all the time. Shaikh had been trying for his treatment,” said a neighbor. Shaikh, a fitness freak, was to collect his new clothes from the tailor for Eid once he returned from Azad Maidan.

Mohammed Umer Shaikh


The Times of India, August 13, 2012

‘We apologize to police & media’

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: The organizers of Saturday’s rally to protest the killing of Muslims in Assam and Myanmar apologized to the city police and the media for the violence at Azad Maidan. The organizers demanded strict action against those who went on a rampage after the rally. 

    Religious leader Moin Miya, who addressed the gathering on Saturday, told TOI, “We went there for a peaceful protest against the genocide of Muslims. Our intention was to conduct dua (prayers) during Ramzan for them. However, some anti-social elements came there and began creating problems.
We demand strict action against the culprits.” Police permission for the protest had been sought by a Kurla-based social worker, Rizwan Khan.
 

    Saeed Noori, general secretary of Raza Academy, one of the chief organizers of the protest, said, “Most of the youngsters did not enter the ground but vented their frustration on media personnel, which is very sad.”
 

    Three vans belonging to news channels and several other vehicles were set on fire. Some media persons were also manhandled by the mob. Ex-Congress MLA Yusuf Abrahani said that the youngsters shouldn’t have taken the law in their hands. “We apologize to the media and the Mumbai police for this mess,” said Abrahani. Condemning the violence, Abrahani added that the crowd was divided into two groups. “While the mob outside the ground was not interested in coming in, the crowd present inside the ground did not even know what was happening outside,” he added. 

    Congresss MLA Amin Patel, who conducted a meeting with the organizers, appealed for peace and said, “It’s an attempt to tarnish the image of Muslims. Everything has been recorded on camera. Let the police do its job and let us cooperate with them. We demand that the cops identify the culprits and book them for what they did.” 

 
Deobandi group had  cancelled its rally
    Fearing a violent reaction, a group of Deobandi Muslims had on Saturday aborted a rally slated for Monday, hours before the rally by Sunni Muslim groups led by Raza Academy ended in displays of wanton violence. The Deobandi group announced the cancellation of Monday’s rally at Azad Maidan on Saturday through ads in Urdu newspapers.
—Mohammed Wajihuddin 

 

 

The Times of India,  August 13, 2012