Minorities Comm asks report from Maha on Muslim youth's arrest

Maharashtra's ATS and Special Cell of Delhi Police have locked horns after the former arrested an informer from the national capital, prompting National Commission of Minorities to seek explanation from Maharashtra government in the case.

New Delhi-resident Naquee Ahmed was arrested by Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad for allegedly procuring SIM cards with forged documents but the family had a different tale to say.

According to the family, he was helping the Special Cell in nabbing the bombers of serial blasts in Mumbai last year, sources in the know said today.

Ahmed, whose family hails from Bihar, has been able to help the central security agencies and the Special Cell in identifying two sketches of Waqas and Tabrez, who are alleged to have planted bombs in Mumbai last year in which 26 people were killed. The 23-year-old man apparently knew about these two people as he was introduced to them by one of his neighbours -- Jamali, who was arrested by the Special Cell in November last year, they said.

He also identified Waqas from closed-circuit camera footage taken outside a store in Zaveri Bazaar and finally the Delhi Police and central security agencies requested him to identify the two who were staying in Mumbai at a room for which Naquee had helped them by introducing them to the broker.

As this highly-secretive operation, which was being monitored by higher-ups closely from Delhi, was underway, ATS Mumbai landed at the workshop of Ahmed in Mumbai and picked him up. The incident led to heated exchanges between Special cell sleuths and ATS at the workshop and finally the latter prevailed. The ATS sleuths walked away not only with Naquee but also with his two elder brothers Rafi and Razi.

The two were released but Naquee was placed under arrest as his claims before the Delhi Police had completely derailed the investigations of ATS Maharashtra and also belied their claims that Yaseen Bhatkal, a prime suspect, was out of India, the sources said.

ATS, unrelenting to requests from central agencies and Special Cell not to sabotage their operations, is alleged to have tortured the two elder brothers as well in Mumbai besides another brother in the national capital, they said.

Naquee's brother in Delhi, Taquee, unable to understand the crime of his family members, met National Commission of Minorities Chairman Wajahat Habibullah and narrated the entire story. Habibullah directed the brother to K N Daruwalla, member of NCM, who looks after Maharashtra to look into the matter.

According to the sources, Daruwala attempted to get in touch with Mumbai Police Commission Arun Patnaik and Maharashtra ATS Chief Rakesh Maria but without any success.

This prompted NCM to write a strong letter to Maharashtra Home Secretary U C Sarangi asking him to provide a report about the entire incident to NCM. Efforts to seek a comment from Patnaik and Maria through SMS messages also remained unanswered.
The Commission has all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and, in particular, in respect of summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examining him on oath, requiring the discovery and production of any document, receiving evidence on affidavit and requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.

Taquee has been moving from pillar to post to get justice for his brother. "I wonder if this the price that we are paying for being an Indian and helping the country bust terror modules," he said.

Maharashtra's ATS has been facing allegations of similar nature in the past. In 2008, it did not inform the Intelligence Bureau and other state police forces that it had held Mumbai criminal Afzal Usmani, who is being tried on charges of providing vehicles used to stage bombings in Ahmedabad in July 2008. The failure to share the intelligence helped subsequently Indian Mujahideen to strike in the capital in September 2008.

They even left country's Home Minister P Chidambaram red-faced when they claimed to have arrested the main accused in the German Bakery blast. However, the case of mistaken identity left the force embarrassed.