The Union home ministry may be furious with the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police for releasing sensitive information to the media, but the squad’s chief seems to be unperturbed.
The Centre has asked the state government to pull up the person responsible for giving out details of the investigation to the media. But when additional director-general of police KP Raghuvanshi met a delegation of Muslims at his Nagpada office on Wednesday, two journalists were allowed to remain in his chamber.
The delegation called on Raghuvanshi in connection with the arrest of two men on Saturday. Riyaz Shaikh and Abdul Latif have been accused of plotting terrorist attacks on vital installations in the city, including ONGC’s oil tanks, and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They will be produced in court on Thursday.
The media was barred from the meeting, but one journalist from a leading daily and a photographer were allowed to remain in the ATS chief’s chamber with the delegation. Later, asked about the preferential treatment, Raghuvanshi said the journalist was part of the delegation.
“Those who have been arrested belong to poor families,” maulana Mehmood Ahmed Khan Daryabadi, general secretary of the All-India Ulama Council, said. “We can’t understand how they can belong to any terror group. We wanted to meet the ATS chief and convey our message: if these two are guilty, we do not support them, because no act of terror can be justified. But if they are innocent, they should not be punished.”
Farid Shaikh of the Mumbai Aman Committee said Raghuvanshi told the team that the ATS has some evidence against the two. “He has assured us of an unbiased, transparent investigation,” Shaikh said.
