The investigation into the 2002 and 2003 bomb blasts in the city was an education for our law-enforcers. The Crime Branch team that worked on the case, which came to an end on Tuesday, with 10 convictions and three acquittals, learnt many valuable lessons about terror, investigating officials said, shortly after the verdict was announced.
Police officials connected with the case spoke to The Hindu, requesting anonymity. They recalled that the December 2002-March 2003 period was a particularly stressful and high-pressure time, with the seemingly random blasts causing large-scale panic and insecurity among the people of the city.
The first breakthrough came from the central intelligence agencies: they said a former SIMI member was involved in all of the blasts. (Incidentally, current Mumbai Police Commissioner DD Padsalgikar was, at that time, with the Intelligence Bureau and posted in the city.)
This person was quickly identified as one Saquib Nachan. But when the Crime Branch went to arrest him in his village Padgha (Thane district) locals stood in their way and prevent it. Nachan later filed a writ in court against the charges levelled against him. The court asked him to surrender, which he did.
One official said that Nachan was ‘hard’ (what the police call a particularly tough and callous criminal); another called him ‘committed, intelligent and motivated.’ Nachan told his interrogators, “Jo kiya, sab maine kiya. Kyon kiya, kaise kiya, aur kaun tha, who sab jaane do.” (What was done was done by me. As to why, how or who else was with me, forget about it.”) The police persisted, and eventually the information they got from him helped the Crime Branch identify and arrest several members of the module that he had put together to execute his acts of terrorism.
An officer told The Hindu, “What stumped us when we arrested the members of the module was that they were all educated, financially sound men of diverse ages, unlike the uneducated and poor young men we had arrested for the 1993 serial blasts. This showed us how far the poison of radicalisation had spread, and also gave us an idea of how effective a recruiter Nachan was.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police Praful Bhosale was part of the investigating team, and agreed to speak on the record. He said, “Nachan formed the module by bringing together young freshers and old SIMI members. Some of them were doctors, some were businessmen, others were MBA graduates. Also, the arsenal that we recovered from Padgha was huge. There were assault rifles, pistols and bombs hidden in dry wells in the village.”
That the plot was even bigger than they initially expected became clear when two Pakistani nationals were shot down in an encounter with the Crime Branch in Goregaon in 2003; investigations into their antecedents revealed that they had come to Mumbai to help with the terror plot. An officer said, “The duo first stayed in Pune, and all the arrangements for them were made by Anwar Ali,
who used to teach Persian at the National Defence Academy in Khadakwasla. They then came to Kalyan and stayed there for some time. Another key link was Mohammed Kamil alias Sikander, who had kidnapped a famous Kolkata-based businessman and got Rs 5 crore as ransom; some of that money was diverted for the blasts. The weapons and bombs that we seized had been brought from Pakistan via Kashmir.”
In the months that followed, the Crime Branch would follow various threads of the investigation to Delhi, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Officers involved said that it was the first terror case to span such a wide area, and taught them how to investigate cases where multiple locations were involved.
Director General of Police (Home Guards) Rakesh Maria, who was Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) at the time, said, “The conviction is the result of the hard work and perseverance on part of the Crime Branch team, who toiled in spite of all the court cases and allegations by Nachan. We stood rock-steady and ensured the investigation was conducted thoroughly and professionally.”
TERROR CALENDAR
Date | Place | No. injured |
December 6, 2002 | At Mumbai Central Railway Station, near McDonalds | 27 persons |
January 27, 2003 | Vile Parle Market area | 32 persons |
March 13, 2003 | Ladies compartment of a Karjat bound train at Mulund Railway Station | 93 including 11 commuters and 82 passers-by |
Roles they played
Planter of the Bombs:
- Planter of the bombs Saquib Nachan, Former General Secretary of Students Islamic Movement of India
- Transporter of Blasts: Muzammil Ansari
Charge sheet Filed
April 19, 2003 of approximately 5000 pages
- The Prevention of Terrorism (POTA) Charge applied: July 7, 2014
- Arguments in the Trial Concluded: February 25, 2016
- Verdict: March 29, 2016
After the Blast
First arrest: April 10, 2003 of Saquib Nachan by Crime Branch. 13 identified as accused:
- Saquib Nachan
- Ateef Mulla
- Hasib Zubeir Mulla
- Mohammed Kamil
- Noor Ansari
- Anwar Khan
- Muzammil Ansari
- Gulam Khotal
- Wahib Ansari
- Farhaan Khot
- Nadeem Paloba
- Haroon Rashid
- Adnan Mulla
Verdict on Tuesday
Convicted: Saquib Nachan, Ateef Mulla, Hasib Zubeir Mulla
Charges: The Prevention of Terrorism Act, The Arms Act
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Convicted: Mohammed Kamil, Noor Ansari, Anwar Khan
Charges: The Arms Act
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Convicted: Gulam Khotal
Charges: The Prevention of Terrorism Act
****
Convicted: Muzammil Ansari
Charges: The Prevention of Terrorism Act, The Explosives Substances Act
****
Convicted: Wahib Ansari
Charges: The Prevention of Terrorism Act, The Arms Act, The Indian Penal Code, The Explosives Substances Act
****
Convicted: Farhaan Khot
Charges: The Prevention of Terrorism Act, The Explosives Substances Act, The Arms Act
****
Charges in All: The Arms Act, The Indian Penal Code, The Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damages of Property Act
Acquitted: Nadeem Paloba, Haroon Rashid, Adnan Mulla
