A key accused-turned-approver in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case approached the Mumbai police on Tuesday complaining of threats to his life. The alleged threat calls came a day after Yakub Memon's hanging on July 30 in Nagpur.
According to Mumbai Police, the approver received the calls on his mobile phone twice in an interval of 15 minutes. Preliminary inquiries reveal that the calls were made from public booths in Byculla and Dongri areas.
The alleged threat calls:
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Tumne achcha nahi kiya, tumhe mein maar dunga (You did a bad thing. I will kill you)
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Tere vajah se bekasur Yakub sooli par chadh gaya, ab bas tere zindagi ki ulti ginthi chaloo samajh (Innocent Yakub was hanged because of you, start counting your days now)
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Jitna mazaa karna hai karlo tumhare din bhar gaye hai (Have as much fun as you can, your days are numbered).
The approver (name undisclosed) filed a written complaint at the Byculla police station five days after he received the threat calls on July 31. The Byculla police have registered a non-cognisable offence and are investigating the matter.
A police officer was quoted saying that the approver has been provided with police protection.
Mumbai police officials suspect it to be a handiwork of gangster Chhota Shakeel allegedly backed by Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) intending to take revenge for Yakub's hanging. The suspicion is built upon Shakeel's statement where he called Yakub's hanging a 'legal' murder..
There were only two accused-turned-approvers in the 1993 serial blasts case who were allowed to walk free in 2007, following their testimony against the other perpetrators. Another approver too had returned to Mumbai in March this year after he had sensed pressure from the Dawood gang.
An English daily quoted him saying, "While I was in Dubai, there was pressure from the underworld elements and ISI. I got scared and preferred to return. Recently I have been getting calls from international numbers and over VoIP which I am not picking. I have intimated this to Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria."
