Suresh Walishetty, a former Mumbai Police officer and a key investigator who probed the 1993 serial blasts, says the events on that “Black Friday” 21 years ago are still fresh in his memory.
As Mr. Walishetty recalls, it was the inspection of a suspicious van in Worli that led the police to Yakub’s family and provide important clues in cracking what was the first major terror attack in the city.
“Amid the panic and fear that the blasts triggered, a watchman in Worli was alert enough to spot the aforementioned car and inform the police. The vehicle was laden with AK-47 rifles which we later found out were kept to launch an attack on BMC headquarters. We contacted the RTO officials and were told that the vehicle was registered on the name of Tiger Memon's wife. And when the family was not found at the house, we knew something was amiss,” he added
This sparked a series of interrogation as the police chased down everyone with any connection whatsoever to the Memon family.
Before retiring from the force as an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Walishetty played an important role in cracking another terror attack case -- the 2003 twin blasts.
But the serial blasts of 1993 was one that he recalls was a bigger challenge as the police was completely taken by surprise with the scale and meticulous planning by the perpetrators.
“We had never faced an attack of that scale and the investigations were very exhaustive with all of us having to spend days away from home. Back then I was inspector in the Mumbai Police Crime Branch and a part of one of the core teams formed immediately after the blasts. Piecing together clues from so many different channels without the kind of communication facilities we have today was a tough ask in itself,” recalls Mr. Walishetty.
Sanjay Dutt
Even though the actor was found not guilty in the Mumbai Blasts case, weapons from the consignment used by the attackers were found in his possession. The actor was shooting in Mauritius when his name first cropped up during the investigations of the blasts and was arrested soon after his return. Again, it was Mr. Walishetty who arrested the actor at the Mumbai Airport and took him straight to Mumbai Police’s headquarters.
“Sanjay was perhaps given this fall assurance that he would not be arrested. All the while from the airport to the interrogation centre he maintained that he did not know anything about the AK-56 rifles, magazines, cartridges, pistol and hand grenades that were delivered to him. But once we confronted him with claims of Samir Hingora (who delivered the arms to his residence) and Yusuf Nullwala (who destroyed all the weapons except an Ak-56 after being told to do so by Sanjay), his expression changed,” said Mr. Walishetty.
Don’t recall much
Unlike Mr. Walishetty, his senior officer in the Mumbai Police K.L. Bishnoi has little recollection of the probe. Mr. Bishnoi recorded the confessions of 23 accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case as court records suggest including several key handlers of the attack. Currently serving as Maharashtra’s Additional Director General (Law and Order), Mr. Bishnoi was the Deputy Commissioner of Zone III at the time of the blasts.
“It has been 23 years. I do not remember how many confessions I recorded but yes it has to be said that the case was very complex,” said Mr. Bishnoi. He avoids any comment on Yakub Memon’s hanging.
