Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A day before four suspected LeT operatives were killed in an encounter with the Ahmedabad Police, the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) here received an application for the transfer of ownership of the Blue Indica that was used by them.
Deputy RTO Jeevan Bansod said the application for transfer of the car’s ownership in the name of Faiyyaz Mehboob Khan, a mechanic, was submitted on June 14. Faiyyaz is being questioned by Pune Police. Police are also questioning Fayyaz’s colleague Asif Sayyed. Asif is a cousin of Sajada, the wife of Javed Shaikh who was killed in the encounter.
Bansod said Faiyyaz had submitted all documents with the application. These included a copy of the ration card (number 0126430). The card carried the names of Faiyyaz and his father Mehboob and gave their address as Sattarkhan Chawl, 550/54, Nana Peth, Pune-2. Faiyyaz also submitted a copy of his PAN card (ALYPK5167D) that mentions his date of birth as March 4, 1973.
Bansod said the car had been purchased from Nuruddin Akbar Ali, a resident of Byculla, this month as the RTO in Mumbai had issued a NoC to the transfer of its ownership on June 4.
A visit to the address given in the ration card confirmed Faiyyaz’s residence. Located along Laxmi Road, Sattarkhan Chawl is a cluster of small tenements. Faiyyaz lives here with his brother Firoze, also a mechanic.
‘‘My brother is innocent. He heard about the encounter on TV and went to the police on his own,’’ he said. Firoze alleged that Javed bought the car in Faiyyaz’s name. ‘‘Javed approached through Asif, saying he wanted to buy a car but did not have documents. Faiyyaz believed Asif and helped him,’’ he said.
For five years, Faiyyaz and Asif have been repairing vehicles at Austin Motors. Narendra Shah, the owner, said: ‘‘They worked hard and never took holidays. Faiyyaz never mentioned the purchase of a car. This is unbelievable.’’
