ATS officials said the two, who were brothers-in-law, had been instructed by their handler — codenamed “Uncle” — not to use explosives in their attacks and instead set the target sites on fire.
Acting on a tipoff by Central security agencies, Abdul Latif alias Guddu, 29, and Riyaz Ali, residents of Bandra and Dahisar respectively, were arrested from near Matunga railway station on Saturday night, ATS chief K.P. Raghuvanshi said. Guddu sold televisions and refrigerator covers while Riyaz worked at a salon at Thakkar Mall. ATS sources said they were also looking for a couple of their other associates.
The duo had conducted reconnaissance work on the three targets — ONGC headquarters, Thakkar Mall and Mangaldas Market — and were planning to carry out attacks that included sabotage and arson. “We have established that their targets were ONGC in suburban Bandra, Thakkar Mall and Mangaldas Market. They wanted to execute their terror plans soon,” Mr Raghuvanshi said, and added: “Our preliminary probe suggests the duo was getting instructions from someone called ‘Uncle’ in Pakistan. We are taking the help of Central agencies to identify this ‘Uncle’ that they were referring to.”
The ATS chief said the duo was also given the task of arranging passports in order to send their associates from Mumbai to Pakistan for recruitment. “The duo had also submitted relevant documents for passports. However, before their associates reached Pakistan, they wanted to carry out a big attack here,” Mr Raghuvanshi added.
The family members of the duo claimed, however, that the two were framed by the police and that they were innocent. “Riyaz studied in a night school till Class 10 and has been working ever since. He is completely innocent and we refuse to believe that he might be involved in any crime, let alone terrorism,” said a relative. Guddu’s wife Nusrat Bano said her husband had sold covers for the last eight years and was a complete family man. “He is a very simple man and we run our household hand to mouth. I have never heard him talking with any ‘Uncle’ and he has simply been framed by the police,” she said. Guddu has two daughters aged five and one-and-a-half years.
“When the Central security agencies issued similar inputs to us recently, we enhanced our vigil, and acting on a tipoff, we managed to catch the two. We suspect more people were involved in this, and that’s why I do not want to say any more,” the ATS chief said.
The ATS had been working on inputs about the terror suspects for the past two to three weeks, Mr Raghuvanshi said, adding that the duo was not very educated but knew how to operate a computer. The accused were charged under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a local court on Sunday, and were remanded to police custody till March 18.
Dippy Vankani and Jigna Vora