Arms found at Shakeel aide’s home, cops say it’s 1993 cache

‘Were Shipped From Pakistan By Dawood’

Thane:
The Thane police while probing a drug peddling case stumbled upon a cache of arms that they say could have been smuggled into the city for use during the March 12, 1993, serial blasts that killed 257 people and the subsequent riots.


On Saturday, a China-make AK 56 rifle with 95 live rounds, two pistols and 13 bullets were seized from the Goregaon house of fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel’s associate Naeem Khan, who is lodged in Thane Central jail in an attempt to murder case. The police have arrested Khan’s wife Yasmeen, in whose custody the arms were found.

Inspector Pradeep Sharma said the arms and ammunition are believed to have been shipped from Pakistan by the ISI and Dawood Ibrahim network post the demolition of Babri Masjid. The rifle is a bit rusted but can be used, the police said.

Thane police commissioner Param Bir Singh said this could be the tip of an iceberg. “There were three AK-56 rifles that were untraceable then. We have strong reasons to believe this is one of them,” said Sharma. The rifle was wrapped in an English daily dated October 1, 1997.

“Yasmeen, also known as Deepali Surve, has claimed ignorance and was evasive in her reply when the police questioned her about the rifle in her house. She has been arrested,” said Singh. Yasmeen has been residing in the Bangur Nagar house with her 16-yearold son and six-year-old daughter.

The police raided Khan’s house after two drug peddlers who were arrested on Thursday for possession of cocaine provided a tip-off, said an officer. Zahid Kashmiri (47) and Sanjay Shroff (47) were caught peddling cocaine in Rabodi in Thane, said Sharma. “Along with the AK 56, we have found two pistols made in the US and have seized them,” he added.

Khan was arrested by the Mumbai police’s anti-extortion cell for attempting to murder Shakeel’s former aide Iqbal Attarwala in 2016. “We shall soon approach the court to get the custody of Khan and interrogate him too,” Sharma said. Attarwala was deported from Dubai in 2007 as he was wanted in several criminal cases. Shakeel reportedly ordered a hit on Attarwala following a dispute over a property that was being redeveloped in the suburbs. Shakeel was allegedly not paid the amount he had demanded, the police said. Shakeel assigned Khan to kill Attarwala, said the police.