KASAB AND MUMBAI POLICE

What could be happening. Is it raining bullets? Are people running away? These thoughts were going in my mind at a height of 24,000 feet in a Jet Aiways plane while I was on way to Mumbai on the afternoon of November 27, 2008 (Thursday). Barely a week before this terror strike, I was in megalopolis in connection with the Malegaon blast investigation which had shown extremists belonging to a little known Hindu group having done this act. For me things were definitely not the same as I was missing Hemant Karkare and Ashok Kamte - two officers whom  I had met during my trip. Little did I know that I will be writing their obituary a week later. (May their soul rest in peace). 

            As the plane touched the runway, I switched on my phone only to see that there were some messages. Immediately upon arrival along with a colleague of mine, I met another fellow scribe and we were quick enough to exchange our notes. One person had been picked up by Mumbai police (God give solace to Tukaram Omble's soul) but no one was sure of the identity. After a calls by my fellow guy from the fraternity, we came across the name as Ajmal Amir Amin Mir alias "Kasai" which later turned out to b Ajmal Amir Kasab. After necessary formalities of stories over a period of following days, the picture was clear that Kasab was the modern face of terrorism whose face will haunt several families for years to come. He has been sentenced to Death and rightly so.
            But my issue is not Kasab, because from the word go of the trial was to end in the verdict -- to be hanged till dead, what intrigues me is the role of Mumbai's stake holders (read Shiv Sena and MNS). I believe their must be too many rat holes where these stake holders must have stashed themselves.  (Interested people may read (http://kashmir-timemachine.blogspot.com/2009/01/w-hen-i-was-thinking-of-going-to-bed.html)
            What I want to focus is on lies of Mumbai Police in the case for implicating Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed. Tough they are being tried in other cases in Uttar Pradesh, why were they implicated in this case? And for few actors, Kasab proved to be a platform to jump into limelight.


Rakesh Maria, the then Joint Commissioner of Crime and Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, emerged as self-styled heroes in this field. All riding on the piggy of hard work of extremely intelligent officials of Intelligence Bureau who spent days and nights tracking every movement. While they were toiling to get all the clinching evidence to nail Pakistan, Maria and his gang were busy conceiving a mischievous plan of hogging the limelight and were helped by then Commissioner of Police Hassan Gafoor, who had hid himself in a hall rather than being in a control room of police. The case went to crime branch and within no time, two people were picked from Uttar Pradesh jail -- Fahim Ansari and Sabbauddin Ahmed -- I jumped out of my bed because these arrests were made by February 2008 and I had, through my contacts, procured their interrogation report where they had said that they wanted to carry out reconnaissance of Mumbai but could not manage. What is their role in this attack, was a constant question that I was asking myself. Even the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Crime Branch against these two was nothing but lies lies and lies. The only truth in the voluminous charge sheet was the intercepts made by IB officials and other details provided by the US investigators. A concerted campaign was launched by Maria and his gang by their so-called leaks to media. (The leaks were bigger than Bhopal gas tragedy with only difference that in Bhopal human lives were lost but here the brains of lakhs of Indians were washed).
            Maria would have carried through with his bunch of lies had not David Headley arrest been made by the FBI and subsequently his confession of carrying out all reconnaissance activities for Lashker-e-Taiba terror group. Maria did not know where to hide his face after Headley slapped on his investigation from thousands of miles in Chicago.

Ujjwal Nikam, a lawyer, who represented the state pretended as if Maria's truth was the final verdict about Ansari and Ahmed. He, no less than a clown, stood in front of media and projected as if he had just turned the tables in favour of Indians. Nikkam Saheb, wake up...the court gave death to Kasab whom the entire world had watched spraying bullets at innocents. Nikkam could manage to make the media follow but not the Honourable Judge of the court who lambasted him for lies on Ansari and Ahmed. Even a rookie lawyer could have ensured death penalty for Kasab then what is the big deal about you. Any Answers.


Himanshu Roy: God I feel like laughing when he appeared in a white dress and denim before the media today and started narrating the proceedings inside the court. An officer, who is generally perceived as a page three hopper in Mumbai circles, was talking about Kasab and investigations and blah blah blah till he came to the HIS MASTERS VOICE. "The investigations done by Maria ji......." enough for me to switch off the television set. Rather shut the "stud Roy". 
             So friends this is Mumbai Police and Nikkam's role in the entire investigations....God bless this country and help us get rid of such rats. Amen