Author: S. Ahmed Ali
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: September 11, 2004
URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=98979&creation_date=2004-09-11
It was the perfect disguise. Not
only did Hashim Makhwana (46) grow a beard, part his hair on the right
and change his name, he became his younger brother Altaf.
That's how Makhwana, brother of
former Samajwadi Party corporator Ismail Makhwana, evaded the police for
a good six years, after he jumped parole in 1996.
The impostor was finally arrested
from his Telli Galli residence in Andheri (East), in November 2003, when
he police were tipped off about his ploy. It was only Makhwana's fingerprints
that convinced the police that they really had their man.
Charged with murder, Makhwana was
returned to Yerawada Jail in Pune. But he's missing again, after being
granted a month's parole in June this year. Naturally, the D N Nagar police,
who are investigating the murder he committed, are furious.
They are angry for another reason.
When the Sessions Court sought their opinion on Makhwana's parole application
in June, they objected. But the state Home Department, which governs the
police, okayed his parole.
A police officer with the D N Nagar
police remarked, on condition of anonymity, ''It is a slap on our faces.
In spite of our vehement objections, he state said they didn't object to
Makhwana being granted parole. We managed to secure a conviction in an
old murder case. It is a terrible setback when a convict like Makhwana
is given the opportunity to abscond.''
Just a month before the state tendered
its opinion in court, it cleared the decks for a gangster, Mohammad Aslam
alias Sheru, to seek parole. Sheru, with 25 cases including murder pending
against him, is now absconding.
After Newsline reported the incident
on Friday, the Home Department has asked the deputy inspector of general
of police (prisons) to furnish a list of convicts who are on parole. The
irony is striking.
''In spite of strong objections
from the police, Makhwana was granted parole," says Deputy Commissioner
of Police (Zone 7), Amitabh Gupta. "The jail authorities have written to
us, asking us to arrest him immediately.''
Parole grant
A convict should have at least
spent three years in jail. He or she can apply on humanitarian grounds
such as for medical reasons or to see ill or ailing relatives.
The convict has to give an assurance
by way of two sureties that s/ he will not abscond or leave the country
and has to report to the nearest police station twice or thrice a week.
ahmedali@expressindia.com
