HVK Archives: Young criminals become foot soldiers in Holy War
Young criminals become foot soldiers in Holy War - The Indian Express
J Dey
()
February 3, 1999
Title: Young criminals become foot soldiers in Holy War
Author: J Dey
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 3, 1999
Mumbai, notorious for its youthful talent, is being milked yet
again but this time for all the wrong reasons. Several Dubai-
based outfits acting as front organisations for Pakistan's ISI
have been snooping around vulnerable localities in the city -
looking for potential criminals.
The quiet but steady exodus orchestrated by Dubai-based ganglord
Abu Salem has been underway for about a year now, with about 500
youth being spirited across India's borders over the last nine
months for training at terrorist bases. "The recruitment drive
by Dubai-based gangsters for ISI activities is very serious.
There have been large-scale recruitment of youth from the city
in recent past," said Additional Commissioner of Police (north-
west) Rakesh Maria.
The organisations, operating in tandem with local travel agents,
have been targeting unemployed youth aged between 18 and 25,
preferably misguided young men yearning for a mission. Aimless
and almost penniless, they are ideal candidates for training in
terrorist activities.
Baffled by the sudden rush of unskilled youth from India to
Dubai despite the saturation of employment there, intelligence
agencies thus stumbled upon the operation. Lured by the promise
of lucrative employment youth from predominantly Muslim
localities like Dongri, Mumbra and Cheetah Camp in Trombay are
then dispatched to training camps of the militia in war-tom
neighbouring countries. The Mumbai police, which is assisting
intelligence agencies with surveillance, got their first break
with the arrest of two ISI agents, Sayyed Javed Hussain Shah
Jafri alias Rafiq Khan and Shamshad Haider Gulam Kadir alias
Rajkumar last year. The spurt in the number of travel agents in
target areas has also helped police unravel the modus operandi.
These agents, acting as fronts for gangsters based in Gulf
countries, are hired to expedite the processing of documents for
the new recruits.
Commissioner R H Mendonca said: "We have noticed a sudden spurt
in the recruitment drive by ganglords in Dubai and Karachi and
the Mumbai police is actively monitoring their activities." He
refused to elaborate, saying this could compromise surveillance.
Intelligence sources, however, reveal that a large number of
recruits is routed via Nepal due to the absence of stringent
transit regulations.
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