Malwani: One missing youth traced from Pune
ATS suspects one more youth has gone missing from the same area and the cases are linked
3 min read
The locality where the three youths lived. Amit Chakravarty
THE ANTI-TERRORISM Squad (ATS) Tuesday traced from Pune one of the three youths who went missing from Malwani in the western suburbs of Mumbai earlier this month. A senior ATS officer said he was being questioned for terror links, if any.
An ATS team located lemon vendor Wajid Sheikh, 25, while he was trying to travel out of Maharashtra in the afternoon. He did not have either a train ticket or passport on him, said officials. He was brought to Mumbai late evening and questioned by senior ATS officers.
“He is changing his statements continuously and therefore we have to subject him to a detailed interrogation,” said a senior officer. “We are yet to reach a conclusion. We have to see if he has committed any offence under any anti-terror law.”
Three youths, all from the Malwani in Malad West, went missing from their homes between October and the second week of December.
While Wajid has been traced, the ATS is on the lookout for Mohsin Sheikh, an autorickshaw driver, and Ayyaz Sultan, who was unemployed.
Wajid Shaikh’s wife has said in her statement that her husband had turned deeply religious in the last two months and spoke about his “wish to join jehad”.
The ATS also suspects that one more youth from the same locality “disappeared” on December 15 and it may be linked to the others. According to sources, the fourth youth, aged around 25, was into “odd jobs”. “He went missing on December 15, the same date on which Mohsin and Wajid disappeared. He stayed in the same locality and we suspect they are linked,” said a senior ATS officer.
However, the man’s family has not registered a missing person’s complaint. The ATS stumbled upon the information while probing the other case. “The family does not want to register a complaint but we have recorded their statements,” said an officer.
Sources in the ATS said while it would be premature to conclude at this stage that the missing youths might have terror links, investigations were on. Their cellphones have been found and are being examined. “We suspect that they intentionally did not take along their mobile phones in order to ensure that they are not tracked by the police. We suspect they would have taken new connections,” said the official.
ATS teams have been dispatched to Parbhani and Karnataka in search of the missing youths.
An officer said, “There is nothing to suggest that they have fled the country… Three of the four youths don’t even have passports and therefore the possibility of them fleeing abroad seems to be bleak.”
mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
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