Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested an accused who had been absconding after jumping bail in an illegal arms case since last year. Inquiries have indicated that he was staying in the United Arab Emirates under an assumed name using a false passport. The ATS has now initiated further inquiry into his movements since he went absconding.
According to ATS officers, the accused identified as Akbar Idris Khan was arrested in November 2014 in an Arms Act case by the Byculla unit of the ATS. “The Byculla unit had trapped and arrested an accused named Shivanand Pandey near Gloria Church in Byculla on January 16, 2014, after he was found to be in possession of illegal arms and ammunition. His interrogation revealed that he had obtained the arms from Khan, who was also arrested from his Goregaon residence,” an ATS officer said.
The ATS went on to file a charge sheet in the case and after the trial began, Khan secured bail in November last year and then went missing. When he did not appear for several hearings, he was declared an absconder and a manhunt was launched for him.
“We had been actively pursuing the matter with local informants in Goregaon, where Khan's family still lives. On Friday evening, we received a tip-off saying he was coming to visit his family. We laid a trap and arrested him on Friday night, after which we started questioning him,” the officer said.
Khan's questioning has allegedly revealed that after he jumped bail, he went to Hyderabad and procured a passport under a false name, using which he travelled to the UAE and had been staying there since, visiting his family occasionally. The passport made it easy for him to evade arrest, as officers at the airport were only looking out for his real name.
“We’re sending a team to Hyderabad to locate the person who made the passport for Khan. He has claimed that he was working as a driver in Dubai, and we are verifying this while also obtaining information about his movements since he went absconding,” the officer added.
