1993 blasts suspect’s huff ends with a high-end puff

Like in any other job, a good policeman needs to do his homework, albeit of a different kind. In-depth knowledge of what makes a particular criminal tick or his weakness have helped the police nab and identify one of the suspects involved in the Mumbai 1993 serial bomb blasts.

The Mumbai crime branch recently arrested Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan alias Hamza, 40, from his residence in Navi Mumbai almost 17 years after the blasts. He spent the last five in the city and had even assumed a new identity. However, his addiction to a famous international brand of cigarettes was his undoing.

After his arrest, Hamza was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation. According to sources, Hamza was grilled and interrogated for over six hours by officials but he kept denying that he was the actual suspect. He insisted that the police had arrested the wrong man. “He had forged all his papers and it was getting difficult to establish that he was the real Hamza and this was not a case of mistaken identity,” a senior police officer said. “In fact, after six hours we also believed that we had got the wrong man.”

Unsure of how to proceed, the police called an officer who knew of Hamza’s addiction to cigarettes. The officer came with a packet of Hamza’s favourite brand of cigarettes. He went into the room in which the suspect was kept and sat next to him. The officer lit a cigarette for himself and started making normal conversation with Hamza. During the conversation, the officer asked him if he wanted to smoke.

Despite being a chain smoker, Hamza refused. After a few minutes, the officer lit another cigarette and once again offered it to Hamza, who refused again, though more reluctantly.

When the officer lit the third cigarette, Hamza couldn’t resist and asked for a drag. “The officer told him that he would give him the cigarette only if he gave them his true identity,” the senior officer said. “Hamza was so desperate for a cigarette, he confessed that he was the man that the police were looking for.”