Job-seekers mistaken as terrorists

Four men, who had come to Mumbai “in search of livelihood”, became victims of the wide-spread paranoia triggered in city by Tuesday’s serial blasts in Western Railway suburban trains.

Residents took them for terrorists when they saw one of the four throwing a bag into Bhayander creek, beat them up badly, and handed them over to police. Investigations, however, revealed that the men did nothing wrong except for littering the creek by throwing leftovers of their breakfast into it.

Police Inspector (crime), railways, Khanderao Patil, said, “We found nothing fishy about the four. They will be released soon after medical examination and first-aid treatment.” Fire brigade personnel searched the creek, but found nothing suspicious in it.

The four men, all in their early 20s, were identified as Kamlesh Singh, Anitabh Pratap Chavan, Shivprasad Singh (all from Uttar Pradesh) and Hansraj Tawar (from Haryana). They had reached Borivali by Awadh Express on Wednesday, the police said. From there, they had gone to Bhayander to look for their common friend, Sintu, who had promised to find them jobs in the city.

One of the locals who gave the youths chase, told DNA, “When we asked them what had they thrown into the creek, they started running. That made us even more suspicious.”