Prime accused in riots case arrested

Rauf was a prime conspirator in the 1993 riots along with gangster Firoz Kokani (who is also an accused in the Ramdas Nayak murder case), Nazir Ali, Nazir Sayed Mansur and Mohammed Hussain. Of the other four, three have been arrested. Police refuse to divulge the identity of the accused still at large. Charges have been framed against all four but the trial is yet to commence.

On the night of January 5, 1993, Rauf along with Kokani and the other three accused stabbed two mathadi workers – Laxman Kadam and Rajaram Kadam – near a godown belonging to Vijay Laxmi Transport at Dongri.

The operation, orchestrated by Rauf, sparked the second wave of rioting in Mumbai, which was in the grip of violence and arson will January 10. A senior Crime Branch officer said the 47-year-old Rauf was arrested by the CIU, which had been tipped off that the accused was to visit the Dongri mosque.

Apart from his role in the riots, Rauf has five criminal offences against him at the Pydhoniepolice station and two criminal cases at the Dongri police station.

Police sources say that during the 1992-1993 riots, Rauf also attempted to fire at a police sub-inspector by snatching his service revolver. Confessing to his role in the riots, Rauf said during interrogation that he had fled to Calcutta, where he remained till February this year. A police team was dispatched to Calcutta in 1993 and 1994 to arrest Rauf but returned without their quarry.