Author: Kashif Khusro
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: June 20, 2004
URL: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2004/june/86056.htm
Approximately 50 km from the heart
of the city lies Mumbra, a favourite hideout for terrorists, if the recent
cases are any indication.
In the past three years, there have
been eight major cases (see box) of terrorists being flushed out from here.
The recent killing of 19-year-old
Ishrat Jahan Shaikh, who was from Mumbra, reiterates the fact. Mumbra,
home to about 600,000 people, is about 85 percent Muslim.
It rests against green, clean banks,
but its streets are dirty, its odours noxious. Sunday Mid Day tries to
find out the real reasons for Mumbra's growing popularity with terrorists.
Why Mumbra?
Police and residents say the area's
geography has a lot to do with Mumbra's reputation. According to police
estimates, as much as 40 percent of the population in Mumbra comprises
short-term occupants. These occupants are the likely terrorists, residents
say.
In addition, Mumbra is surrounded
by hills and forests, which present a natural cover for gangsters. Intelligence
reports collected by the police reveal that gangsters frequent Mumbra to
recruit young men. They prefer men below the age of 25 and some recruits
are as young as 17.
The police story
"A proper socio-economic study
has to be done as to why there are so many terrorists arrested from Mumbra.
It is not because it is a Muslim- dominated locality, because we have other
such areas," says Additional Commissioner (Crime) Suresh Kakkad.
Amar Jadhav, Deputy Commissioner
of Police, Thane says, "It could be because many criminals have grown up
here and rented accommodation is cheap. Locals then develop contacts with
Kashmiri terrorists. And also, since it is thickly populated, it is easy
for the terrorists to hide."
A senior Crime Branch officer adds,
"Some pockets of Mumbra are a safe hideout for terrorists because locals
are hand-in-glove with them. Accommodation is also easily available."
Vox populi
Residents point out that all the
terrorists arrested are migrants who stay for a short while and are then
arrested by the police. "There is no part of the country free from terrorist
activities, so why single out Mumbra?" asks Sudhir Bhagat, a local corporator.
Principal of the largest school
and junior college in Mumbra, Abdullah Patel School, Nasreen Shaikh says,
"I am surprised that a quiet girl from my school has been accused of such
a dastardly act.
"But because of Mumbra's growing
reputation of terrorists, students who pass out from my school have difficulty
getting admission in other colleges of Mumbai city."
"People from all over the country
come to Mumbai to make a livelihood. Since they cannot afford to stay in
Mumbai, they shift to suburbs like Mumbra. In this influx, if there are
a handful of terrorists, you cannot say that the entire area is infested
with terrorists," says Akhtar Khan, a social worker.
But an imam says, on condition of
anonymity, "After the Gujarat riots, Mumbra felt governmental indifference,
if not connivance." But he added that locals might not be actually involved
with terrorist activities.
Easy housing
Cheap accommodation makes Mumbra
the destination for terrorists, say police. Pigeon-hole apartments are
available for paltry sums like Rs 500 for month and upward.
"There are very few sale transactions
of residential properties in Mumbra. Properties on lease and rent are the
preferred choices," says Imtiaz Hasan, a real estate consultant.
But after cases of terrorists being
housed in such apartments, "no one is ready to let out apartments to single
guys", says Ahmed Jaleel, another agent.
Mumbra is also close to Thane and
the NH 4 which connects Pune, a junction of sorts for rail and road transit.
So it is easier for terrorists to move around and smuggle arms into the
city, police say.
The truth
Whatever locals say, the crime
graph of the area is on a high. Cases of murder, forgery, theft, rape are
commonplace. But the recent terror phenomenon has left the residents petrified.
Regardless of the fact that Mumbra
is a haven for foreign mercenaries, the crowded locality continues to live
in a shadow of fear and suspicion.
Cases so far
16/5/2003
Mohammed Naimuddin Palob, was arrested
from Mumbra in connection with the Mulund blasts. He confessed to the police
that he supplied chemicals to Saquib Nachan (the main accused). Palob,
a businessman, ran a chemical unit in Mumbra.
17/4/2003
Thane crime branch sleuths nabbed
two terrorists owing allegiance to Lashker-e-Taiba. The duo was nabbed
from Mumbra and revolvers and cartridges recovered from them.
16/3/2002
Thane police raided an apartment
in Wafa Park, Mumbra and arrested four terrorists allegedly belonging to
the Hizbul Mujahideen.
20/12/ 2001
A militant Abu Hamza was arrested
in Mumbra in connection to the Parliament attacks.
24/8/2001
About half a dozen SIMI activists
were arrested in Mumbra.
29/1/2004
The anti-extortion cell of Thane's
crime branch arrested a suspected ISI operative in Mumbra. The suspect,
identified as Taj Mohammed alias Junglee Pathan, is a Pakistani national
who has been living in India illegally since 1995.
8/10/2003
Three people were arrested from
Mumbra for planning to assassinate top BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders in
Gujarat.
18/6/2003
Ishrat Jahan Shaikh, suspected
to be associated with Lashkar terrorists and living in Mumbra, dies in
a police encounter in Ahmedabad.
