Author: Suyash Padate
Publication: Afternoon Despatch & Courier
Date: May 19, 2006
URL: http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=news&xfile=May2006_news_standard2842
Introduction: Police investigations lead to
MLCs, MLA from DF Govt.
In what could be an embarrassment to the ruling
Democratic Front (DF) government, two MLCs and an MLA have come under the
Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) scanner for allegedly providing shelter to suspected
terrorists in their rooms at the Akashvani MLA Hostel near Mantralaya. They
are reportedly Shaikh Rashid Haji Shaikh Shafi, a Congress MLA from Malegaon,
Shaikh Abdul Sattatr Nabi, a Congress MLC from Sillod, and Fowzia Khan, an
NCP MLC from Parbhani. Some of these suspected terrorists were recently arrested
in Aurangabad and Malegaon for possessing and transporting arms and ammunition.
The ATS is unwilling to comment on the issue,
claiming that it could hamper investigations. But sources say that they have
started checking the list of visitors who had lodged in the rooms of these
three members. When contacted, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who is in
charge of the Home Department, said, "It is very early to say anything
on this serious matter. We are still ascertaining various facts. So, at this
juncture, there is no point in revealing any name."
As per government norms, two rooms are allotted
to each member of the Legislature, one for the member and his family and the
other for his personal assistant and party workers. At the Akashvani MLA Hostel,
both Shaikh and Khan had occupied two rooms each whereas one was by Sattar.
Zainuddin Ansari, the mastermind of the arms cache who is still at large,
had camped at the hostel on the night of May 8. Ansari had travelled in an
Indica from Beed along with three others. After a short break he headed for
Pimpalgaon in Nashik district. This was disclosed during interrogation by
Abdul Azim, the car driver.
ATS officials have confiscated the visitors'
register from the MLAs' hostel. Now they are probing who opened the door of
the room for the men and let them stay there. The police are also investigating
who the other occupants of the same room were and whether they had any acquaintances
staying at the hostel. The political atmosphere is shaken up and an uneasy
calm prevails in both the NCP and Congress camp.
