Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad seized a suspect fishing trawler that arrived from Dubai and detained it for a search near Kutch.
Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad seized a suspect fishing trawler that arrived from Dubai and detained it for a search near Kutch. Three people have been arrested, including one from Mumbai, with help from the Maharashtra ATS.
The captain of the trawler, al-Murad, was identified as Ibrahim Surani. The other two men are Aliyaz Bandari and Chandrakant Bachani. Bachani is said to be an illegal immigrant.
Surani and Bandari are residents of Jamnagar and were arrested from their homes. Bachani was arrested from Khar, a western suburb of Mumbai, with the assistance of the local ATS.
Senior Maharashtra ATS officers confirmed the development but refused to divulge details, saying the investigation is at a critical stage.
The arrests were made on the basis of a tip-off from Dubai suggesting that an illegal migrant had entered Gujarat through Tuna port in Kutch last week. The Gujarat ATS moved to nab all three.
According to Ajay Tomar, Gujarat ATS chief, Bachani was carrying a laptop, two cell phones, and a bag of clothes when he entered Gujarat on the trawler. He later left for Mumbai. "He paid Rs1.30 lakh to Surani to enter Gujarat and later escaped to Mumbai," Tomar told DNA.
The Gujarat Police said they are also checking for terror links. According to Tomar, Bandari introduced Bachani to Surani with a fake name, Ashok Sindhi, and paid him Rs1.30 lakh to get him to India without a passport.
Bachani is said to hold an Indian passport, which has allegedly been seized by a Dubai-based financier, Abdul Rahman, because Bachani owes him Rs1.5 crore. Bachani's family lives in Dubai. The police are investigating whether he has connections with foreign spy agencies.
The trawler is owned by a Dubai-based businessman who had leased it to Yusuf Jafrabadi, alias Baapdo, a resident of Mandvi Salayana in Gujarat. Jafrabadi had further rented his trawler to Surani.
Talking to DNA on Thursday evening, Maharashtra ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi said his organisation was in constant touch with the ATS in Gujarat and further investigation is on. "We provided all the help they sought from us and there was full coordination," he said.
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