SpeakAsia’s Maha head nabbed

Mateen Hafeez 

Mumbai: The economic offences wing on Tuesday night arrested three persons, including the Maharashtra head of SpeakAsia, in connection with in a Rs 2,276 crore fraud case. 

    The accused—Abhishek Kulshrestha, Tabrez Ansari and Saeed Mazgaonkar—were remanded in police custody till November 4. “Kulshrestha holds a degree in business administration and worked for the firm between April 2010 and February 2013. He hails from Bareili in UP,” said a senior police officer. “A sum of Rs 2.25 crore was found in their account. Although the firm ceased operations after May 2010, Kulshrestha was still receiving his salary,” he added. SpeakAsia duped more than 24 lakh investors by posing as a survey firm. Cases against the firm have been filed in police stations across various states. 

 

 

The Times of India, October 31, 2013

ATS team gained time as Usmani lost nerve at Indo-Nepal border

Afzal Usmani

He Had Plans For Cross-Nation Business In Stolen Vehicles

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

    Had the state antiterrorism squad (ATS) reached the Indo-Nepal border just 30 minutes late, suspected terror operative Afzal Usmani would have crossed over into the neighbouring country. The alleged Indian Mujahideen member was merely 250 metres away from the entrance point when he ran out of luck.
 

    Afraid that he would be questioned by security personnel at the entrance if he were to approach it alone, Usmani, who was near Rupaidiha rail station in UP’s Bahraich district, started to wait for families and groups of people so that he could mingle with them to avoid being singled out. The ATS team, which had reached the area in the meantime, spotted him with a nervous, impatient look on his face.
 

    “When he saw men in uniform approach him, he surrendered without offering any resistance. He told the policemen he was scared of being killed in an encounter,” said an officer. “Vehicles are not allowed to cross the border at night. That’s why Usmani was waiting for a few more people to arrive so that he could walk the distance along with them, hiding in the crowd.” 

    It is common for security personnel on both sides of the border to question those who approach the entrance alone. Usmani was scared of Nepalese security personnel as well; he thought they could detain him as their Indian counterparts might have alerted them about him. 

    During his interrogation, Usmani said he had planned to start a car business in Nepal. The cars were to be stolen from Mumbai and smuggled into Nepal, said an officer. “He told us that stealing cars in Mumbai was safer than stealing them in UP or Bihar as Mumbai police teams were unlikely to go all the way till the Nepal border just to search for stolen cars.”
 

PROBE PROGRESS
    The ATS on Tuesday summoned a barber from Sion-Dharavi Road who had given Afzal Usmani a haircut and a shave on September 20, the day the alleged IM operative escaped the police at a sessions court in Mumbai. The police recorded his statement
    The ATS recorded the statement of tea stall owner Shaikh Akmal, from whom Usmani had borrowed Rs 600 the same day
    A police team visited Borivli to inquire about Usmani’s bus ticket for Surat

    Usmani was taken to KEM Hospital for a check-up. He was found fit 

 

The Times of India, October 30, 2013

Porous border makes Nepal a choice hideout

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: From terrorists to kidney racketeers, every big criminal’s favourite hideout seems to be Nepal. Suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Afzal Usmani, caught by the state ATS on Sunday, too, was headed for the neighbouring country. 

    “The reason is simple. We have a porous border. No passport or other document is required to travel between India and Nepal through the Bahraich-Nepalgunj route. Dreaded criminals from Bihar and UP keep taking shelter in Nepal,” said a security expert. 

    “Indian and Nepalese merchants, who have good trade relations, travel by road in large numbers. There is little questioning. Going through documents and verification is a long procedure. Even if someone is detained, a bribe is enough to set oneself free,” said a source. “Taking advantage of all this, any criminal can cross over in the guise of a merchant.” 

    Among Indian criminals arrested in Nepal or at the border are: kidney racket kingpin Dr Amit Kumar, alias Santosh Raut, who was nabbed in February 2008; alleged IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, alias Ahmed Zarar Siddibapa, who was nabbed on August 28, 2013, and found in the guise of a Unani doctor; suspected LeT bomb maker Abdul Karim, alias Tunda, who was nabbed on August 16.
    Nepal also witnesses battles among Indian gangs. Betting kingpin Mirza Dilshad Baig was killed there in 2004 by a rival gang lord over a monetary dispute that had started on Indian soil. 

 

Yasin Bhatkal Alias Ahmed Zarar Siddibapa. Alleged Indian Mujahideen operative. Arrested at the Indo-Nepal border near Motihari, Bihar, in August. Suspected to be involved in at least 16 bomb blasts across India

Karim Tunda Suspected expert bomb maker of terro outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. Accused of masterminding over 40 bombings in India. Arrested in August at the Indo-Nepal border

Dr Amit Kumar Alias Santosh Raut. Kidney racket kingpin. Arrested in Nepal in February 2008 and deported to India. Mahim police, who wanted him in a 2005 case, claimed custody. First arrested by crime branch in 1994 

 

The Times of India, October 30, 2013

Nephew was on cop radar for a year

Police suspect that Usmani radicalised his nephew Javed Khan (head covered)

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Afzal Usmani’s 19-year-old nephew Javed Khan allegedly played a key role in the terror suspect’s escape from Mumbai last month. The teenager, who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) last week, had been on police radar for nearly a year, officers said.
 

    Javed is the son of Raziya and Noorullah Khan, who reside in Tatera village in Uttar Pradesh. Raziya is Usmani’s eldest sister. Javed came to Mumbai about 10 years ago and took admission in a local school. He stayed here with his maternal aunt and Usmani’s second sister, Safiya Khatoom.
 

    Apolice officer said: “Javed studied up to class XII. He did odd jobs and helped Usmani by meeting his lawyers and bringing him food on court dates.” The regular visits is what sparked police interest in him. “Javed met Usmani in Sabarmati and Taloja jails and in court,” said the officer. Usmani escaped from the Mumbai sessions court in September and was arrested from the Indo-Nepal border on Sunday.
 

    “During initial interrogation, Usmani spoke of his strong ties with Javed. According to Usmani, Javed helped him immensely in arranging money to escape,” said the officer. “Since Usmani had radicalised Javed and wanted to take him to Nepal, we are questioning him. We need to deradicalise him since he is young.”

 

The Times of India, October 29, 2013

IM terrorist who fled from city court held

BACK IN DOCK:
Usmani was on his way to Nepal

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai:Suspected terror operative Afzal Usmani, on the run for over a month after escaping from a Mumbai court, was caught by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday as he was trying to slip into Nepal. 

    His recapture from the Indo-Nepal border once again puts the spotlight on the area. In recent times, Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and LeT terror mastermind Abdul Karim Tunda have been arrested from there, the latter after he was deported from a Gulf country. 

 
    Usmani, an alleged IM member who is an accused in the 2008 Gujarat blasts, was captured from Rupaidiha rail station in Bahraich district. ATS chief Rakesh Maria said Usmani was “hiding at his sister’s place in Tatera village in Bahraich for the last many days”. He had told his sister that he was out on bail and his sister told fellow villagers that he worked as a salesman in Saudi Arabia.
    The ATS homed in on his hideout after arresting his nephew Javed Khan, 19, last Friday.  

To evade police, Usmani changed appearance, stayed on the move

    Suspected Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani who gave his escorting officer, assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Deshmukh, the slip at a city court in September has been re-arrested in UP.
 

    “Usmani took a cab from Kala Ghoda to Sewri, borrowed Rs 600 from an acquaintance, Shaikh Akmal, and hired another taxi to Azad Nagar slum in Dharavi. His nephew Javed resided in Dharavi with Usmani’s sister and Javed’s maternal aunt Safiya Khatoon. Usmani called Javed from a PCO and asked him to arrange Rs 5,000,” ATS chief Rakesh Maria said.
 

    Around 4pm, the two left for Sion-Dharavi Road together; Usmani got his moustache and beard trimmed by a roadside barber and changed his clothes. The two subsequently travelled to Santa Cruz, then to Borivli, and at 6.30pm left Mumbai for Surat on a luxury bus. Maria said the two kept moving every few days, journeying from Surat to Indore to Bhopal and then to Jabalpur before finally settling down in Tatera (the village of Javed’s mother’s).
 

    Maria said Javed was always under suspicion. “Javed had stayed in touch with Usmani while the latter was in jail the last several years. He came to meet Usmani in court and at Taloja and Sabarmati jails. Also, he mysteriously disappeared the day Usmani fled. On the night of October 25, we received a tip-off that Javed was coming to Kurla LBS Marg, so we laid a trap and nabbed him,” said the ATS head.
 

    Javed’s interrogation revealed that Usmani was living in Tatera and was preparing to leave for Nepal. Javed told the police that he had come to Mumbai to collect his school marksheets and some other documents so that he could join Usmani in Nepal in the first week of November. “We arrested Javed on charges of harbouring Usmani and aiding in his escape,” Maria said.
 

    A police team took a flight to Lucknow early on October 26. But by the time it reached Tatera, Usmani had left. “The team received another tipoff and rushed to Rupaidiha railway station near the Indo-Nepal border. It found Usmani at the station at 3.30am on Sunday. He looked completely different. Our team could identify him only because its members had arrested Usmani in the past and knew him,” said a police officer.
 

    The police said they recovered Nepalese rupees from Usmani. “We also seized a driving licence application submitted by Usmani to the Bahraich RTO on October 24 in the name of Waseem Sattar Khan. He had assumed this fake identity,” the officer said. Usmani had allegedly indoctrinated Javed and asked him to join Indian Mujahideen’s operations in Nepal.
 

    Usmani was produced before a court on Monday and remanded in police custody until November 6. Officers said the barber who trimmed Usmani’s beard will be summoned for the terror suspect’s identification parade and will be made a star witness.

The Times of India, October 29, 2013

Cops put me at risk, says slash victim

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Meher Lamberaj, the woman who suffered a slash attack during her morning walk on Marine Drive on September 13, says cops’ behaviour has put her at risk.
 

    Personnel from Marine Drive police station recently
landed at her Tardeo home with a detainee, asking her to identify if it was the same person who had attacked her.
 

    What is more surprising is the fact that the police have asked Lamberaj (32) to go and give her blood samples at the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory so that they could match it to the blood found on her T-shirt and on the crime scene. “They are saying they want to confirm it’s my blood as evidence. Isn’t the Bombay Hospital report enough for them?” Lamberaj said.
 

    Lamberaj, who stays with her ailing mother, is the sole bread earner in the family. “Since the incident, I have stopped going for morning walks. Earlier, I would go with my nine-year-old daughter, but now I don’t have the courage to go,” she added.
 

    “Initially, they would call me at the police station and show photographs and sketches of various suspects. I was surprised when they landed at my building with a suspect. I have two daughters. I have to look after my ailing mother, too. What the policemen did is highly unsafe,” Lamberaj told TOI. 

    Lamberaj, who is still struggling to come to terms with the situation, said she would not be at peace untilthe attackers are caught. “It happened on the Marine Drive stretch which is considered very safe for walkers. I don’t think the same way now,” she added. Narrating another incident, Lamberaj said, “One night at 1.30 am, the cops sent me the photo of a suspect on my whatsapp asking me to confirm if the suspect was the one who attacked me. Is this the time to send a suspect’s photo?” she said.   When contacted, Krishna Prakash, additional commissioner of police, said, “Cops should not take any suspect to a complainant’s house. I will ask them why they did so.”

The Times of India, October 27, 2013

Police grill FTIL chief Jignesh Shah for 7 hours as ex-CEO sings

Jignesh Shah

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on Friday questioned Jignesh Shah, promoter of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL), for seven hours over his role in the Rs 5,600-crore National Spot Exchange (NSEL) scam. FTIL owns the spot exchange.
 

    Shah was questioned by a team of officers and later confronted with former NSEL CEO Anjani Sinha, currently in police custody. “Sinha had initially taken all responsibility for the crisis but now claims that Shah was quite aware of the irregularities in the NSEL. Therefore, we summoned Shah,” said Himanshu Roy, joint CP, crime branch. Police said whether Shah will be arrested will be decided only after his role in the financial scandal is established. 

    Senior police officials said they wanted to learn from Shah how borrowers were selected, besides day-to-day activities of the exchange. “Sinha claims he was under pressure from Shah. We want to know what kind of pressure,” said an officer. 

 

 Shah was aware of crisis: Sinha

Mumbai: Former CEO of NSEL Anjani Sinha has told the police that FTL promoter Jignesh Shah was aware of the impending payment crisis in the exchange.
 

    Shah had earlier blamed the management headed by Sinha for the crisis. Police said no proper system was followed while selecting the borrowers. “Shah has not challenged the investors’ claims of amounts due to them,’’ an officer said. Police are examining email exchanges and minutes of board meetings to ascertain the role played by each one.
 

    Meanwhile, a delegation of the Investors Forum met senior police officials and discussed the case with them. The police have so far arrested four persons—Amit Mukherjee, Jay Bhaukhundi, Anjani Sinha and managing director of N K Proteins Nilesh Patel.
 

    The police said they will be listing all the properties of NSEL and its office-bearers before attaching them. A first information report, based on a complaint by investor Pankaj Saraf on September 30, has been registered for forgery, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The Times of India, October 26, 2013