Author: Vinod Kumar Menon
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: May 8, 2003
URL: http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/may/52172.htm
Soon after the arrest of Saquib
Nachan, main accused in the Mulund bomb blast case, Deputy Chief Minister
Chhagan Bhujbal revealed that militant training camps were being run on
the outskirts of the city.
According to Mumbai police, in the
last two years, Nachan had allegedly trained around 20 youth at the Mahuli
and Karwa hills, about 85 km from Mumbai.
Mid Day ventured into these hills
to find out more:
Mahuli hills
Mahuli hills are surrounded by thick
forests. Babasaheb Bharti (73), caretaker of a Shiv temple at the foothills,
says hundreds of picnickers visit the place for the three historic forts
- Parasgad, Bhandardara and Mahuli.
A local adivasi said policemen had
been swarming the area in the last three days ever since news of the training
camps was heard on radio.
Biwa Kardade, a local, said they
usually heard blasts from the hills but added that they assumed it was
firecrackers used by hunters and trekkers to scare away wild animals.
"We never suspected anything unusual
was happening, except two months ago, when a villager spotted two men with
a gun near one of the caves," said Kardade.
Till late afternoon yesterday, a
Mumbai crime branch team along with local Padgha and Sahapur police officials
combed the hills for the camps.
Karwa hills
The second militant training camp
run by Nachan, according to Bhujbal, was at the Karwa hills located around
13 km from Borivali village in Padgha.
At the foothills of Karwa is a small
adivasi hamlet called Saoroli, where Mid Day met Sahu Daji Mukne (30),
a priest at the Karwadevi temple. He is suddenly in the news for allegedly
witnessing the training being conducted at the hilltop.
Mukne who told Mid Day initially
that he had witnessed the training, revoked his statement when other villagers
gathered around and refused to allow him to speak.
At the hilltop, police recovered
some incriminating documents and makeshift stoves, among other items. The
Mumbai crime branch claims it has recovered
nitric and sulphuric acids, ammonium
nitrate and potassium cyanide from the training camp.
Local police, however, refuse to
believe a training camp existed on the hills. According to a police source
at Padgha police station, the hills are spread on open space and do not
have any target area, a necessity for conducting a militant training camp.
Further, police said with the adivasis
constantly wandering through the forests for food, a training camp would
never go unnoticed.
The six people held in the Mulund
blast case
There were six men arrested for
their role in the Mulund train explosion. Police say one of them placed
the bomb in the train, but will not identify him now fearing the probe
may suffer:
Saquib Abdul Hamid Nachan: Visited
Pakistan four times for training and brought back firearms. He was arrested
by the CBI in 1992 under TADA for possession of weapons and sentenced to
life imprisonment. His term was subsequently reduced and he later came
to live in Padgha in Bhiwandi. He was also arrested by Padgha police in
a murder case.
Atif Nasir Mullah: An MBA, Mullah
provided logistical support to the two Pakistanis killed in a police encounter
at Goregaon two weeks ago. He was part of the Mulund blast conspiracy.
A weapon was recovered from him.
Hasib Zuber Mullah: Coordinated
the arms training of youths near Mumbai. A Kalashnikov rifle was found
in his possession.
Gulam Abdul Satar Khotwal: He too
arranged for the arms training of youths and acted as a local contact for
Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
Mohammed Qamil Mohammed Jameel Sheikh:
Was one of those who took arms training near Mumbai. Was a local contact
for Pakistanis and arranged houses for Lashkar-e-Taiba militants.
Farhan Abdul Malik Khot: Procured
weapons and took part in the blast conspiracy.
Mahuli Fort: A history
Located around four miles from Sahapur
in Thane district, the fort is around 2,815 feet above sea level. It is
the tallest fort in Thane. In the year 1485, the Nizams of Ahmednagar had
captured several forts, including this one.
In 1636, Shahaji Raje Bhosle along
with a young Shivaji and Jijabai did his best to defend the fort against
the Mughals but failed against Mughal chieftain Khan Jaman's army.
The fort almost became a witness
to the fall of the Nizamshahi regime. In 1658, Shivaji conquered the fort
from the Mughals but in 1666, it was won back by them.
