Author: TN Raghunatha
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 13, 2012
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/home/online-channel/360-todays-newspaper/86977-mumbai-violence-premeditated.html

23 booked for carnage

 Having arrested 23 miscreants — all belonging to the communally sensitive areas of the city — in connection with Saturday’s rioting at Azad Maidan and its vicinity, the city crime branch sleuths have strong reasons to suspect that the disturbances were “premeditated”.

In two other disturbing developments, three women police constables complained that they were molested by a group of rioters while they were patrolling near the Azad Maidan and three weapons — two Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) and one service pistol and 250 rounds — were stolen by the rioters from a police van that was set on fire.

On a day when a city court remanded the arrested miscreants to police custody till August 19, investigations by the police have revealed that these miscreants — coming from the communally sensitive areas of Dongri, Behrampada and Kurla — had criminal antecedents.

The arrested persons, a majority of whom were picked up from the rioting venue, have been booked under sections 302 (murder), 354 outraging (modesty of women), damage caused to public property and threat to civic life.

Official sources said that a special team of the Crime Branch was probing the conspiracy angle behind Saturday’s disturbance at Azad Maidan and its vicinity — in which two persons were killed and 65 others injured.

The suspicion that Wednesday’s violence was a “premeditated” act has stemmed from the evidence that has surfaced during the investigations that a group of miscreants, who had mingled with crowds protesting against the ethnic violence in Assam and killings of Muslims in Myanmar, had come prepared to trigger trouble at the rally.

Sources revealed that the rioters had carried to the Azad Maidan tools like sticks and metal rods which they used to damage vehicles outside the ground soon after the trouble broke out. “We have a strong reason to believe that the rioters also carried cans of fuel (may be kerosene or petrol) that they used to set the three television channels’ OB vans and police vehicles on fire,” a senior police officer said.

The investigators also suspect that the “vested interests” behind Saturday’s disturbances might have enlisted the help of goons from the communally sensitive satellite township of Mumbra in Thane district. Unconfirmed reports said in the evening that 19 of stolen rounds of ammunition were seized by the police from Mumbra.

Another angle that the crime branch sleuths are probing is that the inflammatory speeches delivered by community leaders at the rally organized by Raza Academy and supported by some Muslim organizations in the city might have also contributed to the disturbances. At the rally, a maulvi from Uttar Pradesh Maulana Abdul Quadir Alvi reportedly delivered a fiery speech at the rally, alleging that the Government and media had chosen to ignore the killings of Muslims in Assam and Mynamar.

Talking to media persons here, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Himanshu Roy said: “We are examining the recordings of each and every speech delivered at the rally to see if there was anything inflammatory in them. We have secured CCTV footages from CST station and BMC headquarters which we hope will help us not only identify perpetrators but also establish the circumstances leading to the incident”

Roy said that the crime branch would take steps to recover the damage caused to public property from the perpetrators “We have done the panchnama of the public property lost in the rioting. We assessing the extent of damage caused during the rioting. Once we are through, we will use the amended provisions of the Bombay Police Act to recover the damage from the perpetrators,” he said.

“We have so far arrested 23 in connection with the riot. We are trying to identify more people who torched the police vans, media OB vans as well as damaged private and public vehicles,” Roy said.

In a related development, three women constables belonging to the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) were allegedly molested by the rioters. “They came running into the Azad Maidan police station with their shirts been ripped off. There were marks of abrasions on their face and body. They complained of having been molested by a large group of the protestors while they were patrolling the CST-BMC junction area near the Azad Maidan ground,” a senior police official said.

Simultaneously, three firearms were reported missing from one of the police vans stationed near Azad Maidan during the rioting. “We have received a report of missing three weapons from the police van which was set on fire by the rioters. Two Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) and one Service Pistol and 250 rounds were found missing by police,” a senior police official said.

Meanwhile, two of those killed in the rioting were identified as Mohammed Umar (22) and Altaf Shaikh (18).

BJP demands probe into Mumbai carnage

Pioneer New Service / Mumbai

The Opposition BJP on Sunday demanded that the ongoing inquiry probe by the city crime branch sleuths into Saturday’s disturbances at Azad Maidan and its vicinity in south Mumbai be completed in a fortnight.

A delegation of BJP, comprising State party president Sudhir Mungantiwar and leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Council Vinod Tawde - met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and submitting a memorandum, asking the latter to complete the probe in a time-bound manner.

“We are all concerned about the ethnic violence in Assam. But, nobody should be allowed to take law into one’s hands. Was the violence witnessed at the Azad Maidan and its vicinity pre-planned? There is a need to complete the probe within 15 days,” the two State BJP leaders stated in their memorandum.