Sunday, December 26, 2010

Police apathy adds to road rage victim’s woes

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 25, 2010First Published: 01:16 IST(25/12/2010)


A 30-year-old woman, who alleged she was a victim of road rage, had a tough time getting a police complaint registered because she was shunted between two police stations. The victim, Janice Pearl D’Souza, said she did even not get any help from the much-publicised special helpline for women and children, 103, launched a few months ago.

All this, despite a circular issued by commissioner of police Sanjeev Dayal in August, about how to deal with women complainants. Dayal had instructed police stations to maintain a logbook for women visiting the police station.

The incident occurred at 9.30am on Monday when D’Souza was driving to Saki Vihar near Powai for a meeting. Near Holy Trinity Church, an Indica allegedly overtook her in a rash manner, damaging the bumper of her car.

D’Souza, a corporate trainer, stopped the driver and confronted him. “He got abusive and threatened to beat me,” D’Souza told the Hindustan Times.

“He then hit me on my face. He would have hit me more if an old gentleman had not stopped him.”

She managed to click photographs of the Indica driver using her mobile phone.

Janice proceeded for her meeting but when she started experiencing severe pain in her left ear, she decided to go to the police. “I went to Powai police station at around 5pm and narrated the incident. They were very nice and heard me but told me that the place where the incident took place did not come under their jurisdiction,” she said. “They directed me to Park Site police station.” The law says a police station should register a complaint even if the incident has not occurred in its jurisdiction.

The Park Site police insisted that D’Souza first get a medical check-up.

“The police station is in a slum-dominated area and it was late. I was alone and scared so I left and returned home,” D’Souza said.

She called 103 on Tuesday morning. “They directed me to go to the police station. When I told them I had already done that, they said they can’t help beyond that,” she said.

Senior police inspector at Powai police station, Ashok Jadhav, said he was unaware of the matter and would look into it. Senior inspector of Park Site police station, LM Bhure, was unavailable for comment. Dayal sought details of the incident and said he would look into it.

The assault has left D’Souza with blood clots in her ear and what medical tests have described as a “traumatic perforation” in her eardrum.

Urban centres may be Maoists’ next target: Intel

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 20, 2010First Published: 01:49 IST(20/12/2010)


Police intelligence in the state has cautioned that naxal activities may not be restricted to the far-flung eastern corridor of the state in future. The Maoists have been augmenting their resources and making serious efforts to penetrate and target urban centres across the state.

Highly-placed sources in the state (police) intelligence told HT that there has been phenomenal increase in the cadre strength of the Maoists over the last three decades. This would give them an edge in launching ambushes on security forces even without forest cover. The membership drive carried out by the naxals was not always be voluntary, but in most cases recruits had been coerced into joining the ranks through threats and blackmail.

The security agencies are also alarmed over the fact that the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the combatant wing of the Maoists, has exhorted even those from middleclass backgrounds to join their struggle, in its latest pamphlet. (HT report on December 6).

“A major policy decision was taken in 2007 by the Maoist leadership. According to that, naxals know that jungle warfare and ambushes have not given them the required mileage. So, they have now decided to come out of the jungles,” said KP Raghuvanshi, additional director general of police (law and order). “The naxals have always used urban centres for hiding or for extending medical aid to injured comrades,” Raghuvanshi added. Sources, however, maintained that naxals are now looking at urban centres as targets and are preparing to create grounds before launching assault. “They are infiltrating trade unions and trying to garner support from people affected by government projects,” said an officer on condition of anonymity, while adding that a road map had been prepared on this by the top leaders for motivation and indoctrination. “The idea is simple – force the government machinery to react and then use that reaction to instigate more people and get them to join the fold,” the officer said, while adding that naxal leaders had participated in several meetings held in various parts of Mumbai.

“ We have evidence that they have held meetings in Santacruz some time ago and even in adjoining Thane,” the officer said.

Police to monitor agitations in state

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 19, 2010First Published: 02:34 IST(19/12/2010)


All agitations in the state are under scanner for their possible link with naxalites, senior state police officials have revealed. According to sources in the state police headquarters, the analyses of some of the agitations in the recent past have shown that the crowd was either being led by naxalites or was being instigated against the authorities by them.

"There are instances such as the burning of coaches of Deccan Queen and a commuter train at Ulhasnagar in 2006 and the protests that we saw in Raigad against a proposed Special Economic Zone in 2008. The analyses that we carried out after these protests showed that there was clear involvement of elements that have been associated with naxalites," a senior police officer told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media.

In 2006, the trains had been burnt following news of desecration of a statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kanpur.

"It, however, happened about a month after the killing of a dalit family in Khairlanji. The news of desecration became a trigger and the crowd went berserk," the officer said.

He added that it was after a probe into the train burnings that they figured that the protests had been led by some individuals who had instigated the crowd to attack the trains.

The senior police officer said that they also found that the same elements were involved at various levels in different protests against the state government.

"We have carried out some analyses and we are alert over such developments," said additional director general of police KP Raghuvanshi.

He, however, added that there is no such intelligence on it.

Another state police official told the Hindustan Times that the police are also keeping a watch on the protests at Jaitapur against the proposed nuclear power plant.

"Some of the faces that are leading the protests are same and we know about their leanings so we are not taking any chances," he added.

He said that such issues offer naxalites an opportunity to create "just the kind of environment" that they want to prevail.

"They instigate people by telling them that the state has wronged them and get them to organize protests against the authorities," the officer explained. Then when the government cracks down on the protests, the naxalites tell the people that they need to take up arms against the state, thus leading to a vicious cycle.

"We want to keep an eye on such protests as it would help us contain the situation and nip the problem in its bud," the officer added.

Thanks, but no thanks

Sujit Mahamulkar & Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 13, 2010First Published: 01:50 IST(13/12/2010)


The state government has turned down the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) application to probe an alleged misappropriation of crores of rupees from funds sanctioned under a central government scheme by officials of the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC). The funds had been sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a scheme to improve quality of urban infrastructure and reduce poverty.

The CBI had written to the state on May 21 saying it needed to investigate some MBMC officials for the misappropriation of more than Rs 41 crore (Rs 29.99 crore from the Centre and Rs 12.42 crore from the state). Deputy secretary Dr Deepak Mhaiskar, replied to the CBI on behalf of chief secretary JP Dange on November 25, turning down the request saying after examining the matter the state did not find it a case fit for CBI investigation.

Rishiraj Singh, joint director of CBI (Zone I, Mumbai) confirmed that the state had denied permission.

Sources from the CBI said the Centre had approved MBMC’s underground drainage system project under the JNNURM. The project cost was pegged at Rs 394 crore but the JNNURM’s Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee sanctioned Rs 331.42 crore.

The Centre contributed Rs 115.99 crore (35 % share).

“The MBMC escalated the estimated project cost from Rs 331 crore to Rs 453 crore and sanctioned 10% of the tender value to a bidder as advance, without approval from any authority,” a CBI official said requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The CBI alleged despite the advance payment there has been no progress on the project.

Pravin Salunkhe, deputy inspector general of the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch, said it needed permission to investigate the matter because central government funds were involved.

“Investigation would have helped us find out the extent of misappropriation and whether any central government officials were involved,” Salunkhe said.

Dange said he had referred the case to the urban development (UD) department. “The UD discussed it with their boss, the chief minister, and told the CBI since the department was conducting a probe there was no need for another.”

The 79-member MBMC house is governed by the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance. MBMC commissioner Shivmurti Naik denied the allegations. “The project was envisaged in 2005-2006 and an estimate was prepared going by costs at that time,” Naik said.

“However, by the time the Centre passed it in 2008-2009, the costs had risen and we got a tender of Rs 412 crore, which the Centre cleared. We paid a 10% advance to the company because this is the rule in Maharashtra.”

Naik said 14% of the work has been completed and that payments were audited at three levels — first by a consultant, then by a central government auditor and finally the MBMC’s auditor — before payments are made.

Sanjay Pange, the MBMC corporator who had complained to the CBI about the alleged misappropriation in July 2009, said he would continue to pursue the matter.

Suspect joined LeT 'to earn, benefit his village'

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 11, 2010First Published: 01:41 IST(11/12/2010)

Mohammed Shareif Makhandeep Thakkar, one of the two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives arrested last month from Thane, has reportedly told his interrogators that he had joined the terror outfit not just for money but to also benefit his village. The 33-year-old has reportedly told the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that he decided to join the LeT because he was not making a lot of money by driving oil tankers.

"His friends, who were militants, had told him that he could earn more by joining them and so he joined the terror outfit," an ATS officer said on condition of anonymity.

Moreover, the officer added, Shareif said this would also benefit his village in Kashmir because if he carried out any terror act in his village Gokhrot in Rajouri district or in its vicinity, the Army would have had to move in.

"Once the military would have moved in, it would have built roads and provided other facilities, such as setting up health camps, in the village," Shareif reportedly told the investigators.

When the Army sets up camp, it also provides small-time jobs to locals and, at times, also distributes free food and other material, which would have benefited his village, he added.

Sharief and his accomplice, Mohammed Isaac Mohammed Rashid Kumlakh, had been arrested with two pistols and 11 cartridges on November 15. After interrogation, the ATS had booked them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The ATS claimed that two suspected LeT operatives had conducted a reconnaissance of military installations in Mumbai, Pune and Aurangabad, and had been asked to recruit oil tanker drivers who knew the roads and oil installations in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Investigations have revealed that some of the power plants, refineries and even the Mumbai Central station were on their target list.

The ATS said that Shareif's claims that he had joined the LeT to help his village will neither affect their investigation, nor divert their focus.

"We have prevented a major act of terror by nabbing him and his associate as they had access to some very important installations in the country," the ATS officer added.

‘I was beaten up, accused of causing loss to firm’

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 06, 2010First Published: 01:00 IST(6/12/2010)

A corporate employee, who was allegedly assaulted by his employers, claimed that he had to run from pillar to post for more than a month before the police registered his case. But the police have refuted his allegations saying that himself did not want to register the FIR. Ranjeet Jha, 33, was the general manager (treasury) of Goenka Diamonds and Jewels Limited, which has its office at Pareekh Mansion in Opera House. He was in charge of handling foreign exchange and treasury. He had been working with the firm for about four months.

In his FIR, Jha stated that in October he had warned Navneet Goenka, the firm’s managing director, that their trade in foreign exchange could cause them losses. But Navneet insisted on holding on to the deal and it caused them a loss of Rs 7 crore.

Navneet’s father, Nandlal, abused Jha blaming him for the loss. Jha decided to quit but Navneet insisted on meeting him and called him to his office on October 22.

Jha alleged that while he was waiting for Navneet, the company’s COO Arvind Gupta asked him to wait inside Navneet’s cabin. Later, Navneet and his father Nandlal came in and, they started assaulting me, Jha alleged.

“Navneet’s brother, Nitin, joined them and they kept hitting me with their hands, feet and shoes,” Jha alleged. He started bleeding but they did not stop. Jha alleged that another employee, Pradeep Poddar, also assaulted him.

Jha claimed that they made him sign on blank stamp papers and write a suicide note. “They threatened to kill me,” Jha said. They sent a man to his house to collect his passport and other educational certificates from his house.

They then kept him confined in the office. On October 23, Jha managed to call his friend from the office phone as his cell phone was taken away by his assaulters. His friend informed the police, who rescued him.

Jha said he was so frightened that he did not register an FIR that day.

He added that the DB Marg police officers told him to compromise with his assaulters.

Nagappa Mali, senior police inspector of DB Marg police station, said: “Jha kept running away. We are not going to chase him for that.”

Jha said that the police asked him to register a non-cognisable offence (NC) and that they would ask his employers to return him all documents and the blank stamp papers.

When Jha did not get his papers back, he decided to register an FIR but Mali assured him that he would get his papers back and made him file NCs.

Mali said that Jha had compromised with his assaulters. When asked if the compromise took place in police presence, Mali replied in negative.

On December 1, Jha contacted Nawal Bajaj, additional commissioner of police, who directed the local police to register an FIR. The next day, Jha’s FIR was registered by DB Marg police but the police are yet to act on it.

When the Hindustan Times contacted Navneet over the allegations, he said that he was unaware about it. Bajaj was unavailable for comment.

Mali said an FIR has been filed but no one has been arrested or questioned. “We will call them for questioning on Monday,” Mali said.

Defiant Maoists carrying out recruitment drive in state

Shailendra Mohan/Stavan Desai, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 06, 2010First Published: 00:36 IST(6/12/2010)
In open defiance of security agencies, Maoists have organised a grand recruitment drive in Maharashtra on the tenth anniversary of the formation of Peoples’ Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA). The drive that started on December 2, will continue till December 31. The PLGA has exhorted people from both the labour class and the educated, salaried class to join their ‘cause’.

A pamphlet printed in red ink, which is available with HT, claims that the PLGA has achieved many successes against the police of various states and para-military forces and urges those earning less than Rs 20 a day join their fight against the “repressive” state.

KP Raghuvanshi, additional director general (law and order), said the naxalites were trying to increase their cadre strength. “The people are now disillusioned with them and no one joins them voluntarily anymore. Most of the recruits in recent times have been roped in through intimidation, threats or blackmail,” Raghuvanshi said, adding that the state police, along with the Central forces, had been carrying out area domination operations in naxalite-affected areas.

“The Central Reserve Police Force, Special Operation Group, C-60 commandoes and CoBRA commandoes are all part of the operation,” he said.

Deputy inspector general (anti-naxalite operation) Sunil Ramanand said that he was himself leading the area domination operations.

Meanwhile, for the first time, naxalites have claimed that Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, naxalites have set up alternative governments.

‘Power plants could have been on hit list’

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, December 02, 2010First Published: 02:33 IST(2/12/2010)


One of the suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Mohammed Shareif Thakkar was highly motivated to have carried out a suicide attack and he may have delayed the attack only due to pressure on Pakistan following the 26/11 attack, said a source who is part of the Anti-Terrorism Squad’s investigating team.

The two — Thakkar, 33, and Mohammed Issac Mohammed Rashid Kumlakh, 29 — were arrested outside a bar and restaurant at Kapurbawdi in Thane on November 15.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have booked them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

An investigator told Hindustan Times that Shareif and Kumlakh had access to all targets in the country. “They have been driving oil tankers for several years and have visited almost all refineries, power plants, petro-chemical plants and every such installation where oil tanker can go,” the officer said on condition anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“From our interrogation, we can say that Shareif was highly motivated and he could have carried out an attack even without using any explosive. He could have simply rammed his tanker into something inside an installation. The oil in the tanker would have been enough to cause a major damage,” the officer.

He said interrogations have revealed that power plants could have been on the list of a probable attack.

“A few years ago, the ministry of home affairs had issued an alert to look for such a plot,” the officer said.

“This has exposed a major chink in our security. It should have been common sense that we should have kept a watch on such people,” the officer said.

The two had access to the docks as well, he added.

He said the ATS men are checking the truck terminals and looking for drivers who might have been in touch with the duo.

“The companies outsource hiring of oil tanker drivers to contractors and beyond that they do not have capacity to carry out checks which could have led to major consequences had these two not been arrested,” he said.

Alert issued to all oil installations

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times


Mumbai, November 30, 2010First Published: 01:06 IST(30/11/2010)

Sources in the intelligence bureau said using oil tankers to target vital installations is Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) latest plan and an alert to all such installations has been issued, asking that utmost precaution be taken while hiring staff, even vehicle drivers. Pictures of a threat from an oil tanker or an aircraft had been uploaded on an LeT operative’s social networking site.

Also, David Coleman Headley, the LeT operative in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), had told NIA about a possible attack on oil installations. Headley had told his interrogators that Sajid Majid, a senior LeT operative, had informed him of a sanction to attack India again after 26/11.

Sajid had showed Headley a Google map of an oil refinery in Gujarat, and was keen to attack it. Hindustan Times had first reported on October 25 that Headley had visited Gujarat in November 2008 during his stay in India.

Maria said the duo had been working with NM Sons Transport Company in Talasari. While Sharief had been living in the city for 12 years, Issac came here five years ago. Sharief even had a driving licence, issued by the Tardeo RTO.

“After interrogation, we charged them under Section 15,16,18, 18 (b) and 20 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on November 21,” Maria said. The duo has been charged with being members of a terror group, conspiring to commit a terror act and recruiting people for terror activities.

“Isaac’s cousin Mohammed Ayub was killed in an encounter two years ago, while Sharief was Ayub’s classmate,” Maria said, adding that the duo was approached by terror groups when they visited their village in Gakhroth, J&K, but they joined LeT only six months ago.

Maria said they were supposed to go for training to Pakistan after Eid, November 17, but were picked up before that.

Maria said the duo had given them the names of some of the people they had contacted. ‘They are being questioned,” he said, adding that the duo had been remanded in police custody till December 2. Maria denied that the duo was planning a suicide attack.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat police are likely to seek interrogation of the nabbed terrorists as they were on a mission to strike in Gujarat as well.

"We are in touch with Mumbai ATS officials regarding the arrests. We will seek to interrogate the duo later,” Gujarat ATS IG Ajay Kumar Tomar told the HT.

Cops find crucial case papers

Debasish Panigrahi and Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, November 20, 2010First Published: 02:18 IST(20/11/2010)
The Powai police have recovered crucial papers belonging to the investigation of a highly sensitive case during the probe into the rape of a minor girl. Sources at the Powai police station told Hindustan Times on Friday that the papers were related to a case that had been registered subsequent to the 2002 Gujarat riots. The case was investigated by dismissed senior police inspector Arun Borude when he was posted with the Unit 10 crime branch at Powai.

The papers, sources said were initially kept at flat no A 404 at Emerald Court building where Borude had allegedly raped the girl on multiple occasions. The papers, along with other articles, had allegedly been removed from the flat after the case was registered with the police on November 2.

While questioning the watchman of the building, the police learnt that Borude had allegedly broken the seal of the flat (which is under litigation) and shifted a few articles to a flat in another wing (C 102) and subsequently moved them outside the building premises. The police came across the registration number of the tempo that had been used to remove the articles. The owner of the tempo told the police that the articles had been stored at different places, one of those being a garage in Vile Parle (East).

During a search of the garage, the police recovered several articles, including the papers which were hidden in a tin box.

Inspector Ashok Jadhav of Powai police station confirmed that “old case papers” had been recovered. He, however, refused to comment saying: “Please ask my seniors about it.”

Prakash Mutial, deputy commissioner of police, zone 10, said: “Old papers belonging to some of his (Borude’s) past investigation (of a case) were found from the garage at Vile Parle. I have not gone through them since they are not related to the investigation of the present case.”

He said the papers had been sealed and were kept in the custody of the Powai police.

Entire western coast is radicalised, says ex-Pune top cop

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, November 10, 2010First Published: 01:42 IST(10/11/2010)

“The entire Western coast is radicalised and the preachers of radical ideology constantly keep moving from one place to another in different groups and guises,” says Satyapal Singh, who was Pune’s police commissioner when German Bakery was bombed on February 13, in the latest issue of Protector, Maharashtra police’s in house magazine.

Singh is now posted as additional director general of police (establishment). In the article, Tackling Terror-Some key Issues, Singh says: “Jihadi organisations working in different parts of the country may have different and deceptive (forms), having camouflages of educational, social or cultural tags.”

He says India should wake up to homegrown terror outfits and should not blindly blame the external elements for it. He adds that the banned Students Islamic Movement of India has clandestinely floated a new group called ‘The White Falcon’. “Their job is to recruit and indoctrinate children aged between five and 10 years for the jihadi movement,” Singh states.

He adds that a strategy is being applied to subvert young impressionable minds, as terrorists know that students and youngsters are highly energetic and, if convinced about the cause, they can even be moulded to conduct suicide attacks. He goes on to say the idea that terrorism is a reaction to demolition of Babri Masjid and 2002 Gujarat riots is a myth. He cites that many terror acts like the one on Parliament and in Jammu and Kashmir took place before the riots. He also cites the case of Jalees Ansari who carried out over 50 bombings in the country much before the Babri masjid was demolished.

Singh says young minds should be diverted from the path of hate by educationists, psychologists, and parents. “We should learn a lesson from the US, where no defence counsel came forward to defend the terrorists of the 9/11 terror attacks,” Singh says.

Singh was unavailable for comment as he was not in Mumbai.

Cops suspect arson in 2009 RTO fire

Shailendra Mohan and Debasish Panigrahi, Hindustan Times

Mumbai , November 01, 2010First Published: 02:39 IST(1/11/2010)


The fire at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Thane in 2009 was not an accident. This is what the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) suspects. On February 5, 2009, a fire burnt all records of details about two and four-wheeler vehicles registered with the RTO, including professional taxes paid by commercial vehicles.

The police suspect foul play as the fire had mysteriously broken out 16 days after an Right to Information query sought details on vehicle registration and professional tax.

The RTI, filed on January 19, 2009, sought details on imported vehicles, their customs bill of entry, taxes on such vehicles, cess tax, and proof of residence provided by the importers in the past four years. Moreover, information pertaining to professional tax paid by commercial vehicles, the number of vehicles from outside Maharashtra registered with the RTO in these period (among others), had also been sought.

For the query on imported vehicles, the RTO, in its reply furnished on February 18, 2009, said the records were gutted. For the professional taxes, the RTO did not give records of three-and-a-half years. The remaining six months — June 2007 to December 2007 — it said that though it had received payments of over Rs 17 crore from owners, the receipts for the same were not available. For outstation vehicles’ registration, the RTO reiterated that the records were gutted.

“It is unlikely that all the records were kept in one section. This was never investigated,” said a senior ACB official, who is investigating the professional tax fraud at the RTO.

On October 22, the ACB had raided the Thane RTO following a tip-off that a racket was being run in the collection of professional tax from commercial vehicles. During the raid, the ACB team had come across Rs 10 lakh unaccounted cash stashed inside a locker.

The ACB on Friday conducted searches and truckloads of documents were seized —mostly fake bank challans. A senior ACB official, requesting anonymity since he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the RTO had not furnished details of the professional taxes collected by it to the transport commissioner’s office since the past three years.

ACB sources said a senior clerk, Gharat, has emerged as the key ‘coordinator’ in the scam which has been running for the past four years. They said the amount of the fraud is feared to be more than Rs 400 crore — at least Rs 100 crore every year.

Guj refinery was LeT target: Headley

Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, October 25, 2010First Published: 23:15 IST(25/10/2010)


US national David Coleman Headley (49), the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) operative currently in custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), told a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team that after the 26/11 attacks, LeT’s next target was an oil refinery in Gujarat. Quoting Headley, a NIA related stories
FBI shared info about LeT plot against India: Chidambaram
FBI knew Headley had LeT links in 2005
It was Delhi after Mumbai, Headley tells investigators
‘Hope Headley discloses all that he knows’
report states that the oil refinery was “probably” that of the Reliance Industries Limited.

Reliance Industries Limited has two oil refineries on the outskirts of Jamnagar, a town in west Gujarat.

Headley, during questioning at Chicago, told the NIA the plan to carry out the attack in Gujarat was being finalised even as LeT’s chief, Hafiz Saeed, was arrested in Pakistan in connection with the 26/11 attacks.

According to NIA’s report, Headley said that a senior LeT operative had informed him that they had got clearance to attack India again. “I believe that Sajid’s reference to ‘near Rahul’s city meant a city in Gujarat,” Headley told the NIA team. Later in February 2009, the operative had showed Headley a Google map of an oil refinery in Gujarat.

Headely also told the NIA team that the LeT wanted him to visit Gujarat again and survey the place before the attack.

In November 2009, HT had reported that Headley’s associate Tahawwur Rana (48) had visited Ahmedabad three months after 21 synchronised bomb explosions rocked the city on July 26, 2008.

Rana, who is also in FBI’s custody for planning terror attacks in India and Denmark, had traveled to Ahmedabad from Mumbai by a Go Air flight on November 18, 2008. Investigations revealed that a woman, Samraz Rana Akhtar had accompanied Rana during his three-day visit to Ahmedabad. They had stayed at Hotel Lemon Tree in Navrangpura area of the city and the room was booked in Samraz’s name. The hotel was situated right behind Gujarat police chief SS Khandvawala’s bungalow.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Facebook gives Dawood away

Facebook gives Dawood away
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, June 12, 2010First Published: 00:34 IST(12/6/2010)
Last Updated: 01:30 IST(12/6/2010)Share more...39 Comments Email print

In her Facebook profile, Dawood Ibrahim’s daughter has given away the fact that India’s most wanted criminal is still living in Karachi. Pakistan may claim it has no clue to Dawood’s whereabouts. But a status message posted on Dawood’s daughter Mahrukh’s Facebook profile on May 5, says tellingly: “Missing mom and dad and Junaid and Reenz and Moeen and mazia and everyone in Karachi.”

The last four are all Dawood’s family members.

Mahrukh, who is said to live in Lahore with Junaid, cricketer Javed Miandad’s son whom she married in 2005, reveals in the profile that she went to school in Clifton, an upmarket area in Karachi where the Bhuttos too had a home. Indian security agencies have been insisting Dawood lives in Clifton.

Mahrukh and Junaid have put up several pictures on Facebook. Mahrukh’s profile reveals that she has more than 250 friends on Facebook across the globe.

The privacy settings on Mahrukh’s profile were changed on Friday and access to the pictures posted by her was blocked. Earlier, any facebook subscriber could visit her profile. Indian intelligence sources said they were aware of Mahrukh’s profile.

Terror email: SIM card traced to Dadar dealer

Terror email: SIM card traced to Dadar dealer
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, September 22, 2010First Published: 00:39 IST(22/9/2010)
Last Updated: 00:40 IST(22/9/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Investigations into the threat email, sent minutes after two men fired at foreign tourists near Jama Masjid in Old Delhi on September 19, led the police to a SIM card dealer in Dadar TT on Tuesday. The police have detained him for interrogation. Sources in the Mumbai police said a Tata Docomo SIM card was bought from the dealer on September 16. Procured in the name of Purva Shinde, the card was used to send the email.

“It was bought using a driving licence found to be fake as the registration number on it does not exist,” an investigator said, on condition of anonymity.

The dealer has described the buyer as a man between 20 and 22 years of age, the police said.

The card was inserted into a Nokia phone, which the police suspect was a high-end model that allowed Internet surfing. “The phone was used to connect a laptop to the Net and the threat note was emailed to media houses,” the officer said.

The IP address has been traced to Norway, and the police suspect proxy servers were used to send out the email. “An Indian Mujahideen operative may have bought the Sim card, and they may have hacked into the Net connection from some other place in India,” the officer said.

The police have also seized the application form used to procure the driving licence.

Magistrates court not a post office’

‘Magistrates court not a post office’
Shailendra Mohan , Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, October 04, 2010First Published: 02:36 IST(4/10/2010)
Last Updated: 02:37 IST(4/10/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

The magisterial court is not a mere post office that transfers the material received from the police for trial to the sessions court, and it can order further investigation into a case if it finds the evidence tendered before it is insufficient, states an order by additional chief metropolitan magistrate DH Sharma.

The legislature, in its wisdom, has provided for filing of a charge sheet in the court of a magistrate before committal of a sessions triable case, observed Sharma while ordering further investigation in the alleged murder of Ankit Sharma. The court was acting on a plea filed by the father of the victim, Umakant Sharma.

The defence had opposed the application contending that Umakant had no locus standi to file the application and the magisterial court had no powers to order further investigation.

Their counsel had argued that the magistrates court was a mere post office, which was required to transmit material received from the police to the sessions court for trial.

“The legislature intended a judicial mind to be applied on the material,” the additional CMM said, adding, “A magistrate is required to find out whether the material is sufficient to commit the case for trial, which includes direction for reinvestigation or further investigation.”

Ankit was found hanging in his flat at Man Niketan Society in Malad on December 21, 2009. Umakant, a senior executive with a nationalised bank in New Delhi, alleged that Ankit was killed by his wife, Abhilasha.

He filed an application after the Malad police filed a charge sheet treating Ankit’s death as a suicide.

While ordering further investigation, the court noted that there were discrepancies in Abhilasha’s statements. On December 21, she told the police that her neighbours, Mohini Chandni and Sonali Chavan, had helped her take down Ankit’s body.

On January 13, she claimed she had cut the bed sheet used for the suicide.

The court also considered a report prepared by private forensic expert, Dr Rajendra S Bangal.

“The police did not record the length of the bed sheet. The height of the fan from the floor is 7.5ft and the height of the bed is 1.6ft. Very little space would have been left between the deceased’s neck and the fan. Therefore, the length of the bed sheet was of vital importance,” said Dr Bangal, professor of forensic medicines and medical jurisprudence, Rural Medical College, Loni, Ahmednagar.

Umakant told Hindustan Times: “My brother lives close to their house, but Abhilasha did not bother to inform him of Ankit’s death.”

Advocate Shitij Mehta who represents Abhilasha was not available for comment.

Lax security measures at Lalbaugcha Raja: Report

Lax security measures at Lalbaugcha Raja: Report
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, October 11, 2010First Published: 01:22 IST(11/10/2010)
Last Updated: 01:22 IST(11/10/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Security at the city’s most famous Ganesh pandal, Lalbaugcha Raja, was not as tight as it should have been in the backdrop of possible terror attacks during the 10-day festival. This is what a report, prepared by the Special Branch of the Mumbai police, has said. The Hindustan Times accessed the report that was sent to the city’s police commissioner last week. The report has thrashed the security measures at the pandal.

The report said the doorframe metal detectors were unmanned and people were walking through without being stopped and checked. “Although some security officers had hand-held detectors, they were not used. Even hand bags were not checked,” the report said.

Sanjeev Dayal, police commissioner, said: “It is always better to have an audit report of this kind to help us prepare better for the future,” Dayal said.

“When you have devotees waiting in queues 8-km long, it’s always a challenge to man the crowd.”

The report also said private security guards at the mandal did not wear any badges and there was no information on whether a responsible authority had checked their background. Sunil Joshi, a committee member of the Lalbaugcha Raja mandal, said the private security guards belonged to a security agency. “Senior police officers know about them. They were here last year too,” he said adding that the men had identity cards.

The document claimed security personnel were more interested in getting their relatives inside the pandal and often abandoned their posts to do that.

There was a short cut to the pandal that was left unguarded and even when two policemen were guarding it later they were not given wireless sets to alert others, it added.

“Passes issued to local residents were not coded and different people used the same pass to enter,” the report said. The report also said at times, when the gates were crowded, the police would let people pass without checking them. “Given the terror alert, this was very dangerous.”

The report also said volunteers often helped unauthorised people to walk through. “There were no indicators [for emergency exits] and even volunteers did not know about emergency escape routes,” the report said.

Is Arun Gawli broke?

Is Arun Gawli broke?
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, October 13, 2010First Published: 01:17 IST(13/10/2010)
Last Updated: 01:24 IST(13/10/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Desperately short of cash to finance his legal battles, alleged underworld don and former MLA Arun Gawli has started selling off his properties across Mumbai. Crime Branch sources said on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media that the Gawlis have disposed of at least four properties recently. Several others, they said, have been put on the market.

Gawli is facing a series of cases — from extortion to murder, including that of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandikar.

Gawli was arrested in April 2008 in an extortion case and subsequently booked for Jamsandikar’s murder. Gawli was charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and is facing trial in both cases.

Gawli’s daughter Geeta denied that the family has sold any property. “The [murder] trial is about to begin, so my father’s political rivals are spreading such rumours,” she said.

“Daddy Fast Food store near Jacob Circle has been sold off. We have also learnt that a shop at Laxmi Building at Byculla, which was in the name of Gawli’s mother, has been sold too,” said a Crime Branch officer. “Two other properties have also been disposed of.”

The police are trying to ascertain the amount that each of these properties fetched.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy told Hindustan Times: “We received reports that Gawli is selling off his properties. We are verifying the details.”

A Crime Branch officer, who investigated Gawli’s dealings, said the don has run out of money to fight his legal battles. “He is fighting his cases in various courts for which he needs large amounts of money,” the officer said.

Finding himself in a spot, the officer said, Gawli approached the Supreme Court for bail but was turned down.

Crime Branch sources said some of these properties are in Gawli’s name, while others are in the name of his wife Asha or his mother Laxmi. Crime Branch records showed most of these properties were rented out.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Bulletproof jackets used on 26/11 unsafe against AK-47s
Shailendra Mohan , Hindustan Times
Mumbai, January 06, 2010First Published: 01:02 IST(6/1/2010)
Last Updated: 01:02 IST(6/1/2010)

The Mumbai police were well aware that the bulletproof jackets worn by Anti-Terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare and at least 100 other city policemen, including Quick Reaction Team commandos, on 26/11 would not withstand shells from AK-47s. These jackets were part of a lot bought in 2004 after they were tested by the Mumbai police. The test report, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, showed the jackets could withstand fire from 9 mm pistols and .38 revolvers but nothing more powerful.

So why were they bought? Because the Mumbai police at the time were only thinking of encounters with the underworld and did not anticipate attacks like the ones faced on 26/11. “The [bulletproof] jackets were to be purchased in 2001 to deal with encounters with gangsters who use only small arms,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“We bought it three years later. How could we have seen the future?”

In defence of those who bought them, it must be said that the jackets serve the purpose they were expected to.

The tests — conducted on June 28, 2004, by the local arms division of the Mumbai police at the state police’s firing range in Goregaon — revealed that the jackets withstood bullets from a 9 mm pistol and .38 revolver fired from 30 feet away.

The same jackets, however, were of limited use when bullets were fired from an AK 47 at a distance of 100 feet. And they were no protection at all against SLRs (self-loading rifles).

On 26/11, the city police had to face heavily armed terrorists with the same jackets. For, December 2004 was the last time bullet-proof jackets were bought by the Mumbai police.

Surendra Kumar, inspector general of police (Nagpur range) and Himanshu Roy, Mumbai’s joint commissioner of police (law and order), were members of the technical committee. They were unavailable for comment, as was then police commissioner A.N.Roy.

Questions were raised on the quality of the bulletproof jackets after a public interest litigation filed in the high court claimed that the jacket Karkare worn on 26/11 was ‘sub-standard’. The post-mortem report said Karkare died of bullet injuries to his head and neck.

The state home department last week directed the police commissioner to “explain the quality of the bulletproof jackets”.

“Considering that Mumbai has faced terrorists with automatic weapons in the past and the threat perception of the city has always been high, authorities should have purchased bulletproof jackets which could withstand fire from automatic weapons like AK-47s,” said J K Dutt, former director general of National Security Guards. “It was not judicious on the part of the Mumbai police to go for bulletproof jackets which could only handle 9 mm pistols.”
Bulletproof jackets failed test, but not contract
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, January 05, 2010First Published: 23:22 IST(5/1/2010)
Last Updated: 01:28 IST(6/1/2010)Unlike the Indian Army and paramilitary forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force, Mumbai police issued bulletproof jackets incapable of withstanding bullets fired from AK-47 assault rifles, used in the 26/11 terror attack here in 2008, and self-loading rifles (SLRs), also used by related stories
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terrorists.

Family members of Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare have alleged he was killed because he was wearing a substandard bulletproof jacket.

The jacket was reportedly dumped in a garbage heap after Karkare’s death and never found.

Karkare and more than 100 Mumbai policemen, including commandos from the Quick Reaction Team, were wearing bulletproof jackets capable of withstanding only bullets fired from 9mm pistols and .38 revolvers commonly used by gangsters – not terrorists. This was despite the fact that Mumbai had been a target of terror attacks and bomb blasts since 2003.

A report on tests conducted on the jackets finally purchased by the Mumbai police in December 2004 stated the jackets were no guarantee of protection against AK-47s, SLRs and 9mm carbines. Only the metallic ballistic plate areas, covering the chest area and part of the back, could protect the wearer against such weapons.

The report on the quality of the jackets was sent to the then Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy. But that didn’t stop the police top brass giving the go-ahead to procure these jackets. Roy was not available for comment.

“The [bulletproof] jackets were to be purchased in 2001 to deal with encounters with gangsters who use small arms. We bought it three years later. How could we have seen the future?” a senior police officer.

“Considering that Mumbai has faced terrorists with automatic weapons in the past and the threat perception for the city has always been high, authorities should have purchased the bulletproof jackets which could withstand fire from automatic weapons like AK-47s,” said J.K. Dutt, former director general of the National Security Guard.

The army and paramilitary forces use jackets, which do not contain any metallic ballistic plates. They have more layers of laminated synthetic fibre and are lighter than the jackets the Mumbai police were using during the 26/11 attack.
Two arrested for shooting obscene videos of tribals
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, February 09, 2010First Published: 01:01 IST(9/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:02 IST(9/2/2010)

The Thane (rural) police have unearthed a major sex racket, where obscene video clips involving tribal women were being prepared and sold for Rs 100. A case has been registered at Jawahar police station. The police arrested Zahir Shaikh (23) and Zakir Shaikh (32) and recovered five data storage cards containing obscene videos, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shiv Maithili Jha. The police have identified three victims so far.

Sources said Zahir, who works as a driver, had an affair with one of the victims. He lured her and got the video shot with Zakir’s help. “The victim came to know about it through friends who helped her report the matter,” said Jha.

The 38-year-old victim lodged the complaint on February 4. “The woman is a widow and mother of three.” Jha said. Though the case has come to light now, it has been found that the videos were made quite some time ago. “We found that some videos had been shot in 2008. They shot these videos, copied them on to CDs, later transferring them to data storage cards which were sold for Rs 100 each,” said Jha.

“We have been able to identify one Raj Mahal hotel in Jawahar where one video was shot,” she said, adding that the owner of the hotel was an elderly woman. “We suspect her involvement in the case.”

The men have been booked under the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Cast and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Extortion calls from petty criminals increasing in city
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, February 03, 2010First Published: 01:06 IST(3/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:09 IST(3/2/2010)
Extortion in Mumbai is on the rise. In 2009, the number of extortion cases in the city saw a steep rise when compared to 2008, according to the annual crime statistics of Mumbai police. But most of the extortion calls were not from known underworld gangs but from unknown, petty criminals allegedly backed by former gangsters.

In 2008, 240 petty criminals were booked for extortion while in 2009 it went up to 296. The number of seasoned criminals getting into extortion also saw a sharp rise — from 56 in 2008 to 102 in 2009.

The number of cases involving underworld gangs in 2008 was 162 and the number increased to 196 in 2009.

“We take every extortion call [and case] seriously and take action,” said Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti of the crime branch.

The year also saw a major setback to the Dawood Ibrahim gang with Chote Miyan, a long-time lieutenant, being shot dead by gunmen.
Extortion calls from petty criminals increasing in city
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, February 03, 2010First Published: 01:06 IST(3/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:09 IST(3/2/2010)
Extortion in Mumbai is on the rise. In 2009, the number of extortion cases in the city saw a steep rise when compared to 2008, according to the annual crime statistics of Mumbai police. But most of the extortion calls were not from known underworld gangs but from unknown, petty criminals allegedly backed by former gangsters.

In 2008, 240 petty criminals were booked for extortion while in 2009 it went up to 296. The number of seasoned criminals getting into extortion also saw a sharp rise — from 56 in 2008 to 102 in 2009.

The number of cases involving underworld gangs in 2008 was 162 and the number increased to 196 in 2009.

“We take every extortion call [and case] seriously and take action,” said Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti of the crime branch.

The year also saw a major setback to the Dawood Ibrahim gang with Chote Miyan, a long-time lieutenant, being shot dead by gunmen.
Key police informer missing
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, January 19, 2010First Published: 00:28 IST(19/1/2010)
Last Updated: 00:29 IST(19/1/2010)

“I just what to know what happened to my brother, whether he is dead or alive and if he is dead then what happened to his body,” says Ashok Thorat, whose bother Praveen, an alleged associate of gangster D.K. Rao and a long time police informer has been missing for nearly four months.
Ashok said that the Joint CP (crime) told him that a special team had been formed to search for Praveen. Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deven Bharti said that the investigations were on.

Praveen went missing just before Rao was released from jail. Ashok says that his brother had left the house on the morning of October 7, 2009, but never returned. “Around noon, we got a call from one of his friends that his car was on Palm beach road and that it had met with an accident,” Ashok said.

A missing complaint was lodged with Dharavi police but following their, Ashok sent complaint letters to the home minister, Commissioner of Police, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) and Additional Commissioner of Police (crime).

“We fear he was abducted by Pradeep Sharma and O P Singh’s wife,” Ashok said, adding that Sharma had threatened his brother, accused for Singh’s murder, several times.

Ashok claimed that Praveen was named in Singh’s murder only because of his proximity to Rao. Sources said that Praveen carried out extortions for Rao and was his most trusted lieutenant. The police initially refused to take the case seriously as Praveen had a previous criminal record and felt that the family may have asked him to flee the city.

A senior police official said: “The names of PI Sharma and O P Singh’s wife has cropped up in the investigations.”
21 of one village get life term for murder
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, February 09, 2010First Published: 01:05 IST(9/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:06 IST(9/2/2010)

A rivalry between two groups that took an ugly turn and cost a man’s life has now led to life imprisonment for 21 people from a village in Nagpur. The incident took place in Badegaon village of Saoner Taluka in Nagpur on October 26, 2002. According to the defence advocate, Jay N Gandhi, the incident took place right after the Gram Panchayat elections. “There were two rival groups of Deshmukhs and Samta clan which had contested the elections,” Gandhi said.

The Deshmukh group had won five seats while the Samtas had won four. “The prosecution's case was that the Deshmukhs had taunted the rival group for having won one less seat than them. The taunt had angered the Samtas,” Gandhi told Hindustan Times from Nagpur.

Later that evening when Ashok Deshmukh was returning home, he was attacked by a group of about 30 people, the prosecution alleged. The attackers lynched Ashok and he died of his injuries. Two others accompanying Ashok, Vilas Bhaurao Deshmukh and Vivek Deshmukh, survived the attack.

“According to the case papers, there was no power in the village and there was a heavy police bandobast,” Gandhi added.

The case trial started more than four years ago. The prosecution examined 28 witnesses and defence examined five witnesses. The court tried the 30 accused and found 21 of them guilty. Additional District Sessions Judge P.L. Dhale has sentenced those convicted to life imprisonment. Nine of the accused were acquitted. “Some of these include men who are as more than 70 years old,” Gandhi said. Gandhi added that that he was preparing an appeal to the high court soon against the lower court’s order
‘Two fired at him, third looked on’
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, February 13, 2010First Published: 01:00 IST(13/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:00 IST(13/2/2010)
The men who shot and killed advocate Shahid Azmi on Thursday waited for him outside his office in Kurla Taxi Men’s colony for 15 minutes, as Azmi was not in. Azmi walked in around 7:40 pm and asked his office boy Inder Singh Kirti Singh (23), the sole eyewitness to the murder, to switch on the air conditioner and bring him water. He also asked Singh to send the three men inside.

The trio walked in, whipped out two guns and pumped bullets into Azmi.

According to Singh’s statement, details of which were accessed by Hindustan Times, three men came looking for Azmi around 7.25 pm and waited outside near a water tank until Azmi came to office.

“Two men fired at Sir [Azmi] while the third one looked on,” Singh said. He added that one of the assailants took the gun out of a polythene bag, while the other had tucked the gun under his shirt.

Singh said after firing three shots, one assailant pointed the gun at his [Singh’s] head and said, “Chal bhaag idhar se nahi toh tere ko bhi udaa denge.” [Get out of here else we’ll shoot you also.]

As he ran towards Azmi’s house in the next block to inform his family of the attack, Singh heard two more shots being fired.

According to Singh’s description of the three assailants, one had long hair, was about 5.9 feet tall and was wearing a shirt and trouser.

The second person had a wheatish complexion and was about 5.5 feet in height. He looked on as the other two carried out the killing.

The third attacker had similar physical features as the second one. All three were of slim built.

Police sources said four empty bullet cases and one live cartridge were found at Azmi’s office.

“A 9 mm pistol and a 7.62 gun was used,” said an officer, adding the live cartridge was of 9 mm calibre.

Azmi was shot on either side of his chest, while two bullets hit his neck, sources said. “At that range it was impossible for him to survive,” said a police officer.

Speaking in Hindi, Singh told Hindustan Times: “I don’t remember anything after Sir got shot. I am not in a condition to talk.” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone V) Milind Bharambe said: “We do not have any information on how they [the killers] came and escaped.”
Lawyer’s peon identifies the three shooters
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, April 12, 2010First Published: 01:20 IST(12/4/2010)
Last Updated: 01:22 IST(12/4/2010)

Inder Singh Kirti Singh (23), a peon at lawyer Shahid Azmi’s office and the sole eyewitness to his killing, has identified the three men who shot Azmi at his Kurla office in February. Singh had said that the trio had waited for 15 minutes for Azmi outside his office before they were called in. They fired three shots at Azmi and fled. Supari killers, they were allegedly hired by gangster Bharat Nepali for Rs 1 lakh.

Crime branch sources said the identification parade was conducted twice, on March 5 and March 25. On March 5, Singh identified Devendra Jagtap (28) and Pintu Dhagle (22) as the two people who had shot Azmi. On March 25 he identified the third Hasmukh Solanki (32).

“Jagtap and Dhagle had been arrested earlier along with a third person so their parade was conducted on March 5 whereas Solanki who was arrested a few days later,” an officer said, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to interact with the media directly.

Singh had said that after shooting Azmi one of the shooters had pointed a gun at his head and said, “Chal bhaag idhar se nahi toh tere ko bhi udaa denge (Run, otherwise we will kill you too).” Singh had fled and raised an alarm at his residence, which was in the adjacent building.

“Singh has identified Solanki as the person who threatened him and the first to fire at Azmi,” the officer said. The police seized the murder weapons — two 7.65 mm pistols and three rounds each from Jagtap and Dhagle. The police have said that the Bharat Nepali gang killed the lawyer to ascertain its supremacy in the city.

Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti refused to comment on the parade. He, however, said that Singh has been provided security. “We do not have a witness security programme but we are doing whatever possible within our means to provide him security,” he said.
50% of state ATS posts lying vacant
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, April 04, 2010First Published: 01:45 IST(4/4/2010)
Last Updated: 01:46 IST(4/4/2010)

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) may have got a new chief - Rakesh Maria, recently but more than 50 per cent of vacancies in the squad are yet to be filled. The three top posts that are lying vacant are those of the deputy commissioner of police, (rest of Maharashtra), superintendent of police (intelligence cell) — a crucial role that requires an officer to be responsible for intelligence gathering and monitoring movement of known anti-national elements in the city - and superintendent of police (technical cell), who is responsible for monitoring cell phone networks and Internet connections being used by terror suspects.

Maharashtra police chief A.N. Roy indicated to HT that the vacant posts in the state’s counter terror agency will not be filled up soon. “We cannot fill these posts with just anybody. Only those with the required skill and aptitude will be posted,” he said.

The ATS has a sanctioned strength of 700 personnel and it currently it needs to fill more than 350 positions across ranks.

Bringing the new Force One commando force within the ambit of the ATS has made things worse as there is no dedicated senior police officer to head the 220-member force.

“The problem persists due to the unwillingness of policemen across the ranks to join ATS,” said a senior police officer, who had a stint with the ATS, on conditions of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “It is also because the agency does not have a proven track record.”
Happy birthdays at Kala Chowkie police station
Shailendra Mohan Shailendra Mohan , Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, April 30, 2010First Published: 01:32 IST(30/4/2010)
Last Updated: 01:35 IST(30/4/2010)

Savitribai Hirve, a 47-year-old Mumbai Police constable, celebrated her birthday for the first time ever on Wednesday. Her face was a mix of joy and mild embarrassment as she went about distributing sweets to her colleagues at Kala Chowkie police station. “Even my husband doesn’t know it’s my birthday today. I will go home now and surprise him,” Hirve said, her face beaming. She had just completed a night shift and the station celebrated her birthday during morning roll call.

“This is my 20th year in service, and it felt nice that my colleagues took some time off to bring in my birthday, and I’d brought chocolates for them,” she said with the excitement of a child. The station staff gave her flowers and cheered for her.

Senior Police Inspector Sunil Jain, who came up with the idea of celebrating birthdays of his staff, said the idea was to lift up spirits.

“Given the kind of job we have, we are prone to high levels of stress – when we take time out to do something like this, it goes a long way not just in making the staff happy, it also helps me get the most out of them,” he said.

Jain, who has written a book, Human Resource and Stress in Police, on ways to deal with stress in the force, said he also ensures the birthday candidate gets to go home a little early that day. “We let them leave two hours before duty ends so they can celebrate the occasion with their family,” he said.

And he thinks the effort is paying off. “I’ve been here only about four months, but I’ve already seen a considerable change in the mood of my staff. Not only do they not mind putting in some extra time when it’s needed, they have also become more responsive to members of the public,” Jain said.
‘Look for terror recruits’
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, April 10, 2010First Published: 01:31 IST(10/4/2010)
Last Updated: 01:31 IST(10/4/2010)

A report filed on the two men arrested on March 13 for planning terror attacks in the city states that Abdul Latif and (29) and Riaz Sheikh (22)—were asked by their Pakistan-based handler to recruit “young people for military training in Pakistan.” This was the case that may have cost Additional Director General of Police K.P. Raghuvanshi his job as the Anti Terrorism Squad’s chief for revealing sensitive information about the accused’s alleged Pakistan-based handler.

The report, accessed by Hindustan Times, was filed on March 26 by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate at Mazagaon and states that the two suspects should be kept in police custody till April 15.

“It is a very serious aspect of the investigation which is still in progress,” the report says.

The ATS report also states that the number of people who have been sent for “training” and “how many are in the waiting list,” is yet to be ascertained.

Mohan Kulkarni, assistant commissioner of police, ATS, who filed the report, refused to comment. Raghuvanshi, who was then the ATS chief, said: “It will not be proper for me to comment on this.”

Ramdayal Chauhan, the advocate representing the accused duo, said the ATS has failed to furnish any evidence against the accused till now. “The ATS claimed that Latif and Sheikh were arrested on the basis of their conversation with a person in Pakistan,” said Chauhan. “If this man was under the ATS scanner, the ATS should have at least been able to say how the duo wanted to accomplish the task.”

“Is it so easy to carry out the attack which the ATS has arrested them for?” he asked.

As per the ATS report, the Pakistan-based handler was identified as ‘uncle’ and he was instigating the two suspects to carry out attacks in the city.

The ATS has not been able to find anything more about ‘uncle’. Sources say this Pakistan-based man was under surveillance of the Intelligence Bureau and after Raghuvanshi disclosed his alleged involvement a day after the two men were arrested, he dropped off the radar.
Drink driving: Most offenders between 18 & 35
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, April 01, 2010First Published: 02:05 IST(1/4/2010)
Last Updated: 02:06 IST(1/4/2010)
The traffic police have the maximum trouble with Mumbai’s youngsters when it comes to drink driving. Mumbaiites between 18 and 35 years of age are the worst offenders, shows traffic police data compiled in 2009 and released in March. The report, available with Hindustan Times, shows that nearly 70 per cent of the offences related to drink driving were registered against youngsters in the 18-35 age group; within this those between 26 and 30 fared the worst. The data shows that 26.31 per cent of offences were registered against those in the 25-35 age group, while those between 18 and 20 years had only 0.28 per cent offences against them.

The offence pattern is almost identical to that of the previous year (2008).

Drivers clearly mellow down with age as figures for the 36-40 age group drop to 15 per cent.

Explaining why youngsters are the worst offenders, Nandkumar Chougule, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said: “Many of these youngsters get a car or a two-wheeler soon after they get out of college, but nobody tells them about their responsibilities.”
How she ‘spent’ Rs 1.96 lakh on fuel
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, April 03, 2010First Published: 01:05 IST(3/4/2010)
Last Updated: 01:05 IST(3/4/2010)
Swapna Salvi (28), who committed suicide in the Goregaon police station on Friday, had been picked up by Ahmedabad Crime Branch when she and her friend had gone to collect money from a petrol pump. Ahmedabad Crime Branch said Salvi and her friend Arvind Mundappa Gaur were arrested on Wednesday from Master Petrol Pump at Shahpur in Ahmedabad. The two had struck a deal with an unidentified petrol pump employee who was to give them the money in lieu of a card swipe of Rs 1.96 lakh.

Police said the two visited the pump some time in the morning.

“They struck a deal with someone there. Salvi swiped the credit card for Rs 1.96 lakh —their petrol pump accomplice was to keep five per cent of that, and give the rest of the money to the duo,” said Senior Police Inspector Vinay Shukla.

Shukla added that the two took part of the money in the morning, and returned to the pump in the evening to collect the rest of it.

“By then, the bank had alerted us about the card theft, and because of the high value of the swipe, we located them,” he said, explaining that the duo transferred Rs 20,000 to an account in Mumbai.

“They also spent Rs 8,000 to buy flight tickets for Ahmedabad to Mumbai,” he said.

Shukla said the petrol pump staffer might also be grilled for the fraudulent swipe.

The case has been transferred to Mumbai Crime Branch, which has begun investigations into the suicide. Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti said Unit XII is carrying out the investigation.

“It’s too early to say anything right now,” he said, adding that an inquest and post-mortem will be carried out first.
Maoist arrested in Surat for ‘sedition’
Shailendra Mohan and Prasad Nichenametla, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai/Ahmedabad, March 17, 2010First Published: 23:53 IST(17/3/2010)
Last Updated: 23:58 IST(17/3/2010)
Less than a month after it filed the first ever case against Maoist activities in south Gujarat, the state police have arrested an alleged Maoist leader for sedition and waging war against the state. Niranjan Puroshottam Mahapatra (37) was arrested in the diamond city of Surat on March 15, police related stories
IAF wants to pull out from Maoist zones
said.

Sources said Mahapatra was arrested after the interrogation of another Maoist leader, Subhashree Ponda alias Mili Ponda, who was arrested in Orissa on January 2010.

Mili is married to dreaded Maoist, Sabyaschi Ponda. Sabyaschi has been accused of killing 38 Greyhound commandos in Andhra Pradesh and the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, in Kandhamal.

Inspector General (Surat Range), A K Singh, told HT that though Mahapatra does not seem to be directly involved in the Maoist brand of violence, he may be part of the larger conspiracy. “The arrest is extremely significant,” Singh said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, K M Polra, said Mahapatra was staying in Jaganathnagar in Pandesara, Surat. A native of Ganjam district in Orissa, he had made Surat his home at least 10 years ago.

Mahapatra was produced in a local court on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody for 10 days.
Rajan’s own men double-crossed him
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, August 06, 2010First Published: 01:10 IST(6/8/2010)
Last Updated: 01:10 IST(6/8/2010)
The men underworld don Chhota Rajan trusted to help him track his aide, Farid Tanasha’s killers, allegedly betrayed him. Rattled by the killing of his trusted aide, Fareed Tanasha, in his own backyard, Rajan had paid some men money to gather information on who was behind the murder. These turned out to be the same men who, as was later discovered, had killed Tanasha.

Sources said these “informers” not just planned and executed Tanasha’ murder but also pocketed hefty sums of money from Rajan under the pretext of tracking down the “killers”.

Investigators have told Hindustan Times that Rajan paid Abu Osama and Zafarali Razi Aslam Khan alias Abbas Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively to get information on Tanasha’s killers. The money was paid through an illegal money transfer (hawala) network.

Tanasha was shot dead at his Kurla home on June 2 and on July 2 nine men from the rival Bharat Nepali gang were arrested for the murder. Nepali, the crime branch claimed, had got the killing done to establish his sway over the extortion empire of Rajan, his erstwhile mentor.

While Zafar was arrested for Tanasha’s murder on June 30, Osama was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and remanded in police custody by the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court until August 13. “More than Fareed’s death, it was the fact that he was killed in Rajan’s backyard that had upset the don. So he was desperate to find out who was behind it,” an officer said requesting anonymity. “But the people he had contacted for that job had already double crossed him.”

The duo had kept the money with them until the police picked up Abbas. “But before the news could become public, Osama got wind of it and he called Rajan to tell him that Abbas’ men had carried out the hit,” the officer added. Sources said Rajan’s men have been cheating him in other ways too. “They give him an inflated cost of weapons and pocket the surplus money,” the officer said.

Abbas was said to be one of the brains behind the plan. He was also involved in the killing of police informer Amjad Khan at Kala Ghoda in 2006 but was discharged. Osama’s name had also cropped up in the shootout but he had been evading arrest.
CBI kept its ears open for proof on armyman
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, June 21, 2010First Published: 02:26 IST(21/6/2010)
Last Updated: 02:28 IST(21/6/2010)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had monitored Major Dipendra Bhushan’s telephone conversations before arresting him in a bribery case. Major Bhushan, a medical officer at the Army Recruitment Office at Colaba, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly taking a bribe to clear candidates in the medical test.

The Hindustan Times accessed the conversation between the armyman and complainant, Ajay Pawar. The CBI told the court about this conversation on Sunday while seeking Major Bhushan’s custody. The Major was remanded in CBI custody until June 25.

Major Bhushan demanded Rs 50,000 for ensuring Pawar passed the medical test. Pawar contacted the CBI and his subsequent conversations with Major Bhushan were recorded. “Ghabrao mat, tumne mujhe bataya ki tum gareeb ho is liye dus mein kar raha hun nahi toh challis-pachaas hazaar se kam nahi leta hun (I have agreed to do this for you only for Rs 10,000 because you are poor. I usually take Rs 40,000-50,000,” Major Bhushan told Pawar.

The CBI has recovered Rs 10,000 that Pawar paid as bribe from Major Bhushan’s driver, Bharat Oram.

It recovered another Rs 9,500 taken from a different candidate.

The CBI searched the Major’s house and office and found names and cell phone numbers of several candidates.

The agency now plans to investigate whether Major Bhushan had contacted other candidates too.

An Armed Forces Medical College pass-out, Major Bhushan has been in service for 11 years.

He claimed he was being framed and the amount recovered from his house was “the normal sum of money that any one keeps at home”.
Home dept seeks inquiry against cops
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, June 26, 2010First Published: 01:57 IST(26/6/2010)
Last Updated: 02:00 IST(26/6/2010)Share more...1 Comment Email print

Alleging irregularities in the tender process for the purchase of bomb suits, the home department has sought an inquiry against three senior policemen. In March, Techno Trade Impex India Private Ltd had moved the Bombay High Court pleading that the state police had refused to accept the delivery of 82 bomb suits. The firm sought that they accept the consignment.

On July 10, P.K. Jain, principal secretary (Home), filed an affidavit in reply to the petition.

In his affidavit, Jain attached a letter he had written to the additional director general (Planning & Coordination) on February 2, 2009.

In his letter, Jain said, on January 28, 2009, seven firms were to demonstrate the effectiveness of their bomb suits, but only five actually did.

"The bomb suits displayed by Amini industries were also sought to be displayed by Shaneshwar Industrial Works and Techno Trade Impex India. All the suits were not displayed before the inspector general (Security) and deputy commissioner of police (Security). Despite this, it was shown as if all seven companies had shown their bomb suits,” the letter says. “This serious matter was not brought by members of technical team to the notice of IG and DCP (Security) and it was not reflected in the report.”

The letter seeks an explanation from Assistant Commissioner of police (Technical Branch) D.G. Bondre, Inspector (Bomb Detection and Disposal Branch) A.B. Naukudkar and Assistant Police Inspector (BDDS) Pandit, who were present for the demo. The letter alleged they had not brought the aforesaid fact before the superior officers.

A.L. Verma, who is currently officiating as additional director general (Planning & Coordination) after the retirement of Subhas Awte, refused comment saying he was unaware of the matter as he was only holding an additional charge.
Want a passport? Head to a rail station
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai passport? Head to a rail station , June 27, 2010First Published: 01:19 IST(27/6/2010)
Last Updated: 01:21 IST(27/6/2010)
In another six months, you will be able to drop your passport application documents at one of three railway stations on your way to work. As part of the national Passport Seva Project — that aims to speed up the process of application and issuance of passports — the Ghatkopar, Andheri and Kandivli railway stations have been selected for setting up satellite offices of Mumbai’s Regional Passport Office. Faster, simpler, easier 1. The national Passport Seva Project aims to ease the process of passport application and issuance.

2. In the next six months, offices will be set up at three suburban railway stations.

3. The application process is also scheduled to become paperless, where applicants can scan and upload their
documents.


“A large population of the city travels by local trains. We will come up with passport application centres near the stations,” said Regional Passport Officer Vinay Choube. He refused to give further details, saying that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) would issue the official statements.

At present, a pilot project is being conducted in Bangalore, said a source at the Regional Passport Office. “The Regional Passport Office has convinced the MEA to include Mumbai in the first phase and this means within six months the project will be implemented here,” the source said. “This will also ease the pressure on the main office.”

Setting up these satellite offices is part of several steps taken by the passport office to simplify the process of application and issuance.

“We encourage people to apply online and give them the day and time for collecting the passport so they do not have to stand in queue for the whole day. But people do not realise that they need to come just 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment,” an officer from the passport office said.

The project is being implemented by the MEA and Tata Consultancy Services. “There will be a call centre to help solve application problems. All documents can be scanned and submitted online,” he said.
Shailendra Mohan , Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, September 26, 2010First Published: 01:37 IST(26/9/2010)
Last Updated: 01:39 IST(26/9/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

The suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, who procured the SIM card used to send the terror email to media houses on September 19, had pretended to be the brother of Purva Shinde, in whose name the card had been bought. Interestingly, Purva Shinde has turned out to be a fake identity, too, as the documents provided to support the identification have turned out to be false.

A police officer said the suspected IM man even signed on behalf of his purported ‘sister’ in front of the Dadar retailer on the SIM card procurement form.

The officer said, this was a major slip-up on the part of the retailer for allowing the man to sign on the applicant’s behalf.

The police have also identified the handset used to send the email — a Nokia N 51.

The police have established that the phone changed at least 3-4 hands before it was bought by the alleged IM operative who used it to send the email to media houses minutes after two motorcycle-borne youths opened fire on foreign tourists near Jama Masjid in New Delhi on September 19.

The police established the last known owner of the handset through the IMEI number, which in turn was traced through the Docomo connection used to send the email. The police then established the SIM numbers that had been used earlier in the same phone.

The last known owner has already been questioned by the police and has told investigators that he had bought it second-hand. The address on the SIM procurement form was mentioned as Lakhani Apartments, Borivli (West).

The documents, supporting the address have, however, turned out be fake as the driving licence provided by the SIM buyer bears a fake registration number.

The handset was connected to a laptop and the email, along with a PDF file attachment, was mailed to media houses.

The IP address of the email has been traced to Norway and police suspect that proxy servers may have been used to send the email. Sources said the connection may have been hacked into by an operative sitting in some other part of the country.
No protective gear for bomb squads
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, February 09, 2010First Published: 01:20 IST(9/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:23 IST(9/2/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

As the dust settled after the 26/11 attacks, the Maharashtra Police decided to set up units of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) across the state, and buy protective bomb disposal suits for BDDS personnel. The process of acquisition of these suits has been troubled from the word go.
Documents available with Hindustan Times say the Maharashtra Police first called for tenders for the purchase of the suits in January 2009.

This was followed by technical demonstrations that included a working trial carried out by all the groups involved.

The State Intelligence Department (SID), which supervises these demonstrations, submitted a report to the purchase department of the Director General’s office.

When the bids were opened, Techno Trade Impex India was found to have the lowest

rate and was awarded the contract.

Soon after, however, a senior police officer, alleging irregularities by the supplier, wrote to the office of the Director General of Police, asking that the order be cancelled.

A letter from the SID office, dated February 5, 2009, said Bimal Agarwal, director of Techno Trade, and one Jignesh Dharia had formed a consortium to bag such orders.

The letter named five ‘companies’ the duo allegedly used, and sought that Agarwal be blacklisted from supplying anything to the state.

Agarwal wrote back to the Mumbai police commissioner’s office clarifying his position, and denying any knowledge of any of the companies named in the SID letter.

On March 28, 2009, the Home Department issued a Government Regulation (GR) recommending to the DG office, the purchase of 82 suits from Techno Trade Impex. On March 30, the company was given six orders for these.

Agarwal said he wrote to the office of the Additional Inspector General (Provisions) on August 25, 2009, asking for the location where he was to deliver the suits, but got no response.

Only after his third letter, dated November 17, was he asked to deliver the entire consignment to the office of the Principal, Special Protection Unit, SRPF Group 1 at Pune.

Documents available with HT show that when Agarwal took the consignment to this address, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Jadhav refused to take delivery, saying he needed intimation for this from the office of the SID commissioner.

Home Department sources said Agarwal was required to supply 82 suits by June 30, 2009. His firm reportedly failed to do this, only offering to
supply 14 suits in November 2009, and seeking more time to supply the rest.

According to the deal, non-fulfilment of deadline could lead to cancellation of the order,” the officer said.
Subhas Awate, additional director general of police, said: “We wanted the entire stock
so the technical committee could hold random checks,
but the supplies never came,” he said.

Agarwal denied this, saying he had been ready to deliver the entire lot within the stipulated date since the time he got the certificates needed to import the suits.

Agarwal said the suits are now in his warehouse. “I can supply them right away if asked to.”
Rs 6 cr paid but no sign of bomb suits
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, June 29, 2010First Published: 02:41 IST(29/6/2010)
Last Updated: 02:42 IST(29/6/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

On June 29, 2009, the Maharashtra police paid a private firm Rs 6 crore for 82 bomb suits for the use of bomb detection squads. A year later, the police are still waiting for these bomb suits. The state government had placed an order for these bomb suits with Techno Trade Impex India Private Limited early in 2009, months after the November 26 terror attacks. The consignment, however, was not delivered even a year later.

Techno Trade moved the Bombay High Court in March 2010 saying that the police had refused to accept delivery of the bomb suits and sought that they should accept the consignment.

Principal Secretary (Home), P.K. Jain, responded to the petition with an affidavit filed on June 10 and revealed that the Home department paid Rs 6.21 crore to but did not receive a single bomb suit. "The payment was made against bank guarantees and with an assurance and promise of the petitioner [the company] to supply the bomb suits," the affidavit reads. Sources said the guarantees lapsed in January 2010.

"The petitioner is raising a false bogey of having the consignment ready and losing interest on investment, the police department not taking delivery of the consignment, etc," Jain's affidavit says. "Whereas, its consignment was not ready even up to May 18." Techno Trade's Director Bimal Agarwal confirmed to Hindustan Times that the payment was made on June 29, 2009, a day before the due date for the delivery of the bomb suits. He refused to comment further saying that the matter is in court.

Jain’s affidavit states that the supplier was avoiding delivering all the bomb suits at a single location to avoid inspection.

The November 26, 2008, terror attacks exposed how ill equipped the city police were to handle terror strikes involving sophisticated arms and ammunition. The state, as a part of its police modernisation plan, decided to fortify the force with better arms, equipment and protective gear such as better quality bomb suits and bulletproof jackets.

Hindustan Times had earlier reported about alleged irregularities in the tender process for purchase of bomb suits. The Home department has already sought an inquiry against three officers from the office of Director General of Police in this matter.

Jain's affidavit includes his letter dated February 2, 2009 to the then additional director general (planning and coordination). Additional Director General of Police (Administration) A.L. Verma, who is currently holding additional charge of the planning and coordination department, said he was not aware of the matter. "The officer who was in charge at that time has retired and the post is lying vacant. I am only officiating for the time being and I do not have any information on this," Verma said.

Then additional director general (planning and coordination) Subhash Awte refused to comment saying he has retired. "The matter is in court now and I am not aware of the status," he said.
Still hungry to be on top of her game
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, May 15, 2010First Published: 01:30 IST(15/5/2010)
Last Updated: 01:32 IST(15/5/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Sometime during 1986, Police Inspector Shalini Sharma and actor Shilpa Shetty played volleyball together. “Somewhere, our fate lines have been similar. We both went to London and achieved something,” she quips. While Shetty returned from London with TV show glory and a restaurateur husband, Sharma (40) came back from the same city last week, with hostage negotiation training from New Scotland Yard, and was named core member of the hostage negotiating team that Mumbai Police will announce soon.

Sharma, who went there on scholarship, is the third Indian police officer to do this, after State Intelligence Department Commissioner, K L Prasad and Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Sanjay Barve.

The mother of two has come a long way from cruising around on her Bullet during her stint in the traffic police in the early ’90s — they called her “Kiran Bedi of Thane” back then. Her recent achievements include interrogating lone surviving 26/11 terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab, and handling the extradition of gangsters, Abu Salem and Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.

Asked if her knowledge of Punjabi helped name her as one of Kasab’s interrogators, Sharma laughs: “Well, I have some interrogation skills too”. The 1990 batch Indian Police Service officer is now with the Crime Branch’s Central Intelligence Unit, where she handles the liaison desk for Interpol-related work.

Sharma says the need for a hostage negotiator was seen in the aftermath of 26/11 — members of the Rotary Club met State DGP, AN Roy and city police commissioner, D Sivanandhan. Rotary Club members Harshad Mehta and Naina Mehta paid for the scholarship that helped send Sharma for the Scotland Yard training.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Himanshu Roy, who picked her over numerous candidates, says Sharma has the qualities of a good negotiator. “She will be the core member of the hostage negotiating team,” he says.

Sharma, once captain of the Pune University team, even attended selection camps for the Indian volleyball team. Now, her passions are detection and interrogation, with a newfound interest in cyber forensics and cyber fraud – she collected a diploma in cyber law somewhere along the way.

About the shootout at Andheri, where a Customs officer shot dead a 14-year-old girl after taking her hostage, Sharma says: “I don’t know how the outcome may have differed if I was involved… I may have dealt with the situation a little differently.”
Meet Shalini Sharma: Mumbai’s first trained hostage negotiator
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, May 15, 2010First Published: 01:35 IST(15/5/2010)
Last Updated: 01:38 IST(15/5/2010)Share more...1 Comment Email print

Shalini Sharma can pass off as any other 40-year-old woman in a salwar kameez. But the ever-smiling Sharma — Inspector Sharma — is Mumbai's first trained hostage negotiator. Sharma, Mumbai Police's liaison officer with the Interpol, was picked for training in Hostage Negotiation and Crisis Management in London. She returned last week after a two-month course at New Scotland Yard and is eager to take up her new assignment.

"It was a fruitful experience and I got to learn a lot," Sharma said, adding that she now plans to train fellow officers. "We hope to create a team with skills to deals with hostage situations."

Sharma’s training was not just meant for negotiating in terror situations but also in cases of domestic violence and attempted suicides. "The training is based on the principle of saving a life," she said.

The decision to train a police officer in hostage negotiation was taken after a meeting between some members of Rotary Club, state Director General of Police AN Roy and Police Commissioner D Shivanandan.

Sharma was chosen from among 12 officers by a panel headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy. "We choose her as she showed immense initiative, professionalism and enthusiasm," said Roy.

Speaking of her training, Sharma said: "We bargain in our day to day life too. But this course hones that skill so that it can be used in a mind game."
‘New quarters soon’
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
May 24, 2010First Published: 01:39 IST(24/5/2010)
Last Updated: 01:41 IST(24/5/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Vijay Singh Jadhav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ 1) spoke to Hindustan Times on the problems policemen are facing with respect to small and unhygienic police quarters and on the police department’s plans for constructing new, bigger houses for its men. Is it true that policemen are opting out of staying in police quarters and that a large number of quarters are lying vacant?

Yes, the quarters are 180 sq ft in area as the specifications of houses for constables is very old. The new houses that are coming up at various locations will be bigger in size. Constables will get 1BHK, with a carpet area of 366 sq ft. Head constables and assistant sub inspectors will get houses measuring 473 sq ft. The old houses are small and these constables cannot adjust in them with their families.

Where are these quarters coming up?

The Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Limited is constructing 261 quarters at Ghatkopar. Total 500 houses have been planned there. It also has plans to build houses in Mahim (500), Worli (400), Santacruz (224), Wadibunder (160) and also at Kole Kalyan. The Public Works Department will also be constructing some houses for us.

How often are repairs taken up?

The construction of new quarters and repairs of old is an ongoing process. It is done as and when required. It also depends on availability of funds.

Some of the police lines have pathetic sanitation condition.

That is true as the police lines like that at Byculla are very old and despite several repairs, the sanitation worries remain. We are trying to take care of that problem.
‘It gets more difficult to adjust with guests’
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, May 24, 2010First Published: 01:44 IST(24/5/2010)
Last Updated: 01:45 IST(24/5/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Raghu More (name changed) is the son of a former police constable. He joined the force as the family otherwise would have had to move out of their Worli house after his father's retirement. “It’s a very small quarter and we face a lot of problem trying to fit into it,” More said. “When women in family need to change clothes we have to step out and it gets more troublesome when guests come,” he said and added that men sleep outside in the aisle.

“There is no proper ventilation. It is very depressing,” More added and said that repairs seldom happen. “We can’t afford to take an house on rent as it will mean moving out of Mumbai,” he said.
‘Bandra is expensive but sanitation is better’
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, May 24, 2010First Published: 01:42 IST(24/5/2010)
Last Updated: 01:42 IST(24/5/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Eknath Gore (name changed) has been living at Bandra police line for three years. He said that Bandra has the best police quarters. “If it had not been Bandra, then I wouldn’t have lived in police quarters,” Gore (39) said. He had joined the force about 17 years back. He used to live with his family in Kala Chowkie.

“Bandra is expensive but I want my children to get quality education and Bandra is better equipped for that,” Gore said.

He said that the sanitation condition is better at Bandra. “We are lucky. There is one toilet for every two quarters but those in Mahim or Naigaon have to share common toilets for an entire block.” He, however, said that water comes only once in a day.
Cops say no to quarters, 1,500 homes lie vacant
Shailendra Mohan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Mumbai, May 24, 2010First Published: 01:47 IST(24/5/2010)
Last Updated: 01:48 IST(24/5/2010)Share more...0 Comments Email print

Call it an irony. Those who keep us safe are themselves struggling for a roof for their families in this metropolis. The policemen are opting for staying out of police quarters and heading to rented accommodations. There are more than 1,500 police quarters that are lying vacant and policemen do not want to live there.

The policemen are staying away from the quarters even as the department says that there is a huge shortfall of houses that is required to accommodate city policemen.

The department has only about 18,500 houses for its over 38,000-strong constabulary.

According to a reply to a Right to Information Act query, the Mumbai police say that the quarters, each measuring up to not more than 180 square feet in area, are lying vacant.

The reply, sought by a social worker, states that the quarters are vacant as most of them are in a dilapidated condition. It also states that the houses are small in size and lack amenities. “Some of them are not connected well to railway stations, bus stops and markets,” the reply states.

The RTI reply, on the other hand, mentions that there is a shortfall of over 13,000 houses and currently only about 4,200 quarters are being constructed.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ 1) Vijay Singh Jadhav confirmed that policemen are shying away from these quarters. “These quarters are small and nowadays policemen do not want to move into such small houses,” Jadhav said while adding that the specifications of the existing quarters are very old and at the time the area of the quarters were fixed at 180 square feet.

He said that the new quarters being constructed by the department offers bigger space.

A constable, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the living conditions at most of the quarters are horrible.

“I am lucky to have got a house at Bandra (West) police line otherwise I would have never lived in those quarters,” he said while adding that his friends and colleagues who live in Mahim and Naigaon police lines keep complaining about the squalid conditions of the houses.

He said that the Bandra Police Line is one of the best quarters to live in.

“The other police lines like the one at Mahim or Naigaon are not habitable,” he added. The constable said that staying with a family in such a small house is very difficult.