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Journalism of Courage
The brother of the owner of Kuber,the fishing vessel that was hijacked and used by terrorists to reach Mumbai and stage the 26/11 attacks,attempted suicide at his Porbandar home in the early hours of Tuesday,alleging harassment by an assistant superintendent of police (ASP).
While Porbandar SP has ordered an inquiry against the officer,the police said the boat owners family too had been under investigation after two unnamed applications sent to them detailed the sharp increase in its fortunes since the November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai,besides throwing up fresh leads.
After the probe in the aftermath of 26/11,central investigating agencies had given a clean chit to Kubers owner,Vinod Masani,and returned the boat.
But the Masanis now allege that Porbandar ASP Makrand Chauhan would routinely call Vinods brother Narshi to the police station and question him about his family income and his alleged links with Pakistani terrorists.
Tired of the ordeal,Narshi (40) consumed poison at around 1.30 am on Tuesday,leaving behind a letter alleging mental and physical harassment. To compound the tragedy,his daughter Divyesha has also been hospitalised after droplets of poison fell around her mouth as she struggled with her father to stop him from consuming the poison.
Both Narshi and Divyesha have been hospitalised. Following preliminary treatment at Bhavsinhji Government Hospital,Narshi was shifted to a private hospital. However,he has been complaining of severe chest pain and we are in the process of shifting him to Ahmedabad, said Vinod,adding that Divyesha was out of danger.
Over the past 15 days,Chauhan called Narshi to the police station a number of times on the pretext of inquiring about the Kuber case. He accused Narshi of having links in Pakistan and tortured him,all because my brother owns a pistol and has some property in his name, said Vinod.
He alleged that three of his workers,Harish Kuwada,Prakash Lakhani and Gopal,were also beaten up by Chauhan at the police station. The family alleged that the ASP visited them at odd hours and interrogated family members about their business and sources of income.
Porbandar SP Nilesh Jajadia said that a complaint from the family has been accepted and there would be an inquiry into the matter. The SP said an FIR would be registered if the allegations were found to be true.
However,police said they have found prima facie evidence against the Masanis about their alleged Pakistani links. They said they had started an investigation based on two unnamed applications and found that there has been an sharp increase in assets owned by the Masanis since the 2008 Mumbai attack. The applications,the police said,also detail how the boat,which was believed to have been hijacked,could have been handed over to Pakistan-based terrorists.
But Jajadia ruled out a reinvestigation into the Kuber case while admitting that the police had recently received a complaint about the apparently increasing fortunes of the Masanis. But not a single member of the family was ever called for investigation in connection with any case, he said.
Vinod,however,claimed he himself was called by Chauhan for interrogation in connection with the Kuber case two weeks ago. In my case,it went smoothly. But I do not understand why my brother and his family have been harassed, he said.
When contacted,Chauhan refused to comment.
