Rehab Details Punch More Holes In Delhi Police Militant Story
[Editor: Is it another case of "Give a dog a bad name and hang him?" This kinds of events will seriously affect the credibility of Indian administration. It will really be shameful, if Liyaqat Ali Shah, was detained and apprehended wrongly]
A day after doubts were raised about the Delhi Police claim that its Special Cell had arrested a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist and foiled an attack on the capital, new information emerged Saturday to further question the allegations.
The family of the suspected terrorist, Liyaqat Ali Shah, 40, had claimed on Friday that he was a former militant who had surrendered at the Sanauli check-post on the Nepal border and was part of a group returning from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as part of the rehabilitation policy of the Jammu and Kashmir government.
Government sources in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday backed that claim and said Shah's family had correctly applied with J&K Police in Kupwara, seeking benefits under the rehabilitation policy meant for those who want to return to Kashmir.
They said Shah's name was number 74 on the police register in Kupwara and his family had applied on February 5, 2011. After completing formalities, the local police had forwarded the application to the criminal investigation branch of Kashmir police and other departments, the sources said.
The police was also informed by his family members about his return soon after he left for Kashmir along with his wife and step-daughter last Sunday, they added.
The Delhi Police, however, continued to stick to its claims even though some more contradictions emerged in its version of events.
The Special Cell claimed that it had recovered a SIM card issued in Pakistan from Shah and are analysing its call details. Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), S N Srivastava told The Sunday Express that the room in Hazi Arafat guest house in old Delhi, which was raided Thursday night to search for Shah's suspected accomplices, was booked in the name of a resident of Haryana.
"Shah was instructed to meet his aide, who was staying in Hazi Arafat guest house near Jama Masjid in old Delhi. He had submitted identity proof in the name of Mohammad, a resident of Haryana. A map of Delhi has also been found from the room, apart from arms and ammunition," Srivastava said.
Police suspect Shah was in touch with two persons here. While one of them had booked the room, CCTV footage obtained from the guest house shows another man visited him. Using the footage, police have prepared a sketch of one of the suspects.
"Shah's family claims that he was returning to India from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to surrender and that they have submitted an application in this regard in February 2011. If that is the case, why did Jammu and Kashmir police register a case against him hardly a month later, on March 18, 2011?" DCP (Special Cell), Sanjeev Yadav, asked.
The FIR in this case names Shah as accused no. 84 in a list of 97 charged with waging war against the Indian state and criminal conspiracy.
"If J&K has any record of Shah's surrender, why have they not produced it? And why did they not alert the UP police or border forces about his arrival? This whole issue about Shah being a surrendered militant is an afterthought on the part of J&K authorities. Otherwise, how could he cross international border without valid papers? Why did no one from the state police come to receive him at the Nepal border?" Srivastava asked.
While Srivastava said Shah was not alone when he was arrested in Gorakhpur, DCP Yadav said he was alone. Also, there are no independent witnesses for the arrest, Yadav confirmed.
All 20 policemen who raided the Delhi guest house were in civilian clothes and not a single police vehicle was used in the operation, thereby doing away with recording the police movement in the logbook. Delhi Police maintains a detailed account of each police vehicle used in an operation as records have to be verified during investigations. However, in this case, four private vehicles, including a personal car of a policeman, was taken to the spot.
"We took two Innovas, a Maruti Swift and a Scorpio to Jama Masjid and were in civilian clothes as we did not wish to create panic in the area. However, when we saw hand grenades in the hotel room, the local police and bomb squad were alerted, who came in their uniforms," said a senior officer who was part of the raid team.
Also, while the manager of Hazi Arafat guest house said that Shah's suspected accomplice submitted a copy of his voter ID card as identity proof, Yadav told reporters that a driving license had been submitted.
The family of the suspected terrorist, Liyaqat Ali Shah, 40, had claimed on Friday that he was a former militant who had surrendered at the Sanauli check-post on the Nepal border and was part of a group returning from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as part of the rehabilitation policy of the Jammu and Kashmir government.
Government sources in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday backed that claim and said Shah's family had correctly applied with J&K Police in Kupwara, seeking benefits under the rehabilitation policy meant for those who want to return to Kashmir.
They said Shah's name was number 74 on the police register in Kupwara and his family had applied on February 5, 2011. After completing formalities, the local police had forwarded the application to the criminal investigation branch of Kashmir police and other departments, the sources said.
The police was also informed by his family members about his return soon after he left for Kashmir along with his wife and step-daughter last Sunday, they added.
The Delhi Police, however, continued to stick to its claims even though some more contradictions emerged in its version of events.
The Special Cell claimed that it had recovered a SIM card issued in Pakistan from Shah and are analysing its call details. Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), S N Srivastava told The Sunday Express that the room in Hazi Arafat guest house in old Delhi, which was raided Thursday night to search for Shah's suspected accomplices, was booked in the name of a resident of Haryana.
"Shah was instructed to meet his aide, who was staying in Hazi Arafat guest house near Jama Masjid in old Delhi. He had submitted identity proof in the name of Mohammad, a resident of Haryana. A map of Delhi has also been found from the room, apart from arms and ammunition," Srivastava said.
Police suspect Shah was in touch with two persons here. While one of them had booked the room, CCTV footage obtained from the guest house shows another man visited him. Using the footage, police have prepared a sketch of one of the suspects.
"Shah's family claims that he was returning to India from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to surrender and that they have submitted an application in this regard in February 2011. If that is the case, why did Jammu and Kashmir police register a case against him hardly a month later, on March 18, 2011?" DCP (Special Cell), Sanjeev Yadav, asked.
The FIR in this case names Shah as accused no. 84 in a list of 97 charged with waging war against the Indian state and criminal conspiracy.
"If J&K has any record of Shah's surrender, why have they not produced it? And why did they not alert the UP police or border forces about his arrival? This whole issue about Shah being a surrendered militant is an afterthought on the part of J&K authorities. Otherwise, how could he cross international border without valid papers? Why did no one from the state police come to receive him at the Nepal border?" Srivastava asked.
While Srivastava said Shah was not alone when he was arrested in Gorakhpur, DCP Yadav said he was alone. Also, there are no independent witnesses for the arrest, Yadav confirmed.
All 20 policemen who raided the Delhi guest house were in civilian clothes and not a single police vehicle was used in the operation, thereby doing away with recording the police movement in the logbook. Delhi Police maintains a detailed account of each police vehicle used in an operation as records have to be verified during investigations. However, in this case, four private vehicles, including a personal car of a policeman, was taken to the spot.
"We took two Innovas, a Maruti Swift and a Scorpio to Jama Masjid and were in civilian clothes as we did not wish to create panic in the area. However, when we saw hand grenades in the hotel room, the local police and bomb squad were alerted, who came in their uniforms," said a senior officer who was part of the raid team.
Also, while the manager of Hazi Arafat guest house said that Shah's suspected accomplice submitted a copy of his voter ID card as identity proof, Yadav told reporters that a driving license had been submitted.
Courtesy: Indian Express
