ATS lists suspects grilled in 2002-03

To collect info on those who were questioned when Nabi Ahmed Sheikh was also under the scanner

The house in Jogeshwari where Nabi Ahmed Sheikh lived.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terorrism Squad (ATS) has started collecting details about all the suspects from Mumbai who were questioned in connection with the terror attacks in the city in 2002 and 2003, during which period Nabi Ahmed Sheikh, arrested in Pakistan last week, was also under the scanner.

Sheikh, a native of Jogeshwari (East), was arrested in Islamabad on May 19 after he was found to be staying in Pakistan without a valid visa and other documents. He was under the ATS scanner in 2002-03, when there was a series of bomb blasts in the city, for his alleged links to the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

ATS sources said Sheikh went missing in 2006 and was later confirmed to have entered Pakistan through the Jammu border. “We have had inputs about several suspects with links to SIMI in 2002-03 having crossed the border to receive training in Pakistan and Sheikh was only one of them. If any others have indeed followed a similar route, we need to find out at the earliest so that the information can be provided to the relevant agencies and government departments,” a source said.

The source said the information about any other suspects who went to Pakistan at the time needs to be sent to the Central government in case they, too, find themselves in a situation similar to Sheikh.

An ATS officer said the agency is going through its records to draw up a list of all the suspects who were questioned at the time, so that their current status can be confirmed.

“We will need the assistance of the local police for this, as they will be able to tap into the ground-level network to collect intelligence about the movements of these suspects over the last 15 years, information about their family members, and other details. Once we have the list ready, we will start working on the process along with the personnel from the police stations concerned,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, the ATS on Monday night sent a detailed report with all the information it had on Sheikh to the Centre. It included information on his movements collected through interrogation of other suspects from Jogeshwari, his flight to Pakistan, and the current status of his family in Mumbai. The report was put together after personnel from the Juhu unit of the ATS and the Anti-Terror Cell of the Meghwadi police visited the area where Sheikh grew up, after his arrest in Pakistan.