Author: Kishore Rathod
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: September 29, 2001
The fallout of the crackdown on
activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the Kausa-Mumbra
area of Thane, has resulted in the police turning the heat on illegal Bangladeshi
immigrants camped in the region.
Besides arresting SIMI activists
over the past two days, the Thane police also arrested an illegal Bangladeshi
immigrant, 30-year old Ayub Mohammed Nisar alias Mohammed Ayub Yunus alias
Mohammed Fayyaz, who had been camping in Kausa for nearly two years. He
had been living there for a year-and-a-half after his visa had expired.
However, a section of Muslims residing in the Kausa Mumbra region allege
that the police are on a witch-hunt under the pretext of nabbing Bangladeshis
and SIMI activists.
A resident of Millat Nagar said,
on condition of anonymity, "They come knocking in the middle of the night
and ask for all kinds of details to prove our identity. And in case someone
doesn't have the requisite papers, even if he is a local resident, he has
to bribe them to evade arrest."
Dismissing the allegations, Inspector
Datta Ghule said that though it is widely known that thousands of Bangladeshis
are illegally staying in the Kausa-Mumbra area, raids are conducted on
the basis of specific information.
Citing statistics, Ghule said Ayub's
arrest was the fourth in recent times. Last month, two Lashkar-e-Taiba
militants were flushed out of Mumbra and another Pakistani national, 35-year-old
Abdul Rehman Taj Khan, was nabbed in June. Earlier in the year, four hardcore
Pakistani militants were nabbed from Mumbra and handed over to the Jammu
and Kashmir police.
