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The Rediff Special/Vijay Singh in Mumbai
February 08, 2005
Yusuf Nepali, one of the alleged conspirators in the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in December 1999, has been brought to Mumbai to face trial in a bank robbery case.
Gopal Mann alias Nepali (in photograph) had allegedly smuggled arms into the aircraft for the hijackers, the police say.
He was allegedly part of a group that pulled off an armed robbery at the Borivili (northwest Mumbai) branch of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in October 1999 and looted Rs 750,000.
Nepali allegedly conducted the robbery with the help of Mohammad Rehman, Mohamad Iqbal and Abdul Latif (all involved in the IC-814 hijack case) to fund the operation.
He was brought to Mumbai from Patiala jail in Punjab after the Mumbai sessions court issued a production warrant against him.
After the hijacking, the Mumbai police received an intelligence tip-off that a back-up team of hijackers was in Mumbai and communicating with a British media house about their demands.
Nepali was then staying in a flat at Jogeshwari, northwest Mumbai, with his wife and children. Other members of the group were staying some distance away in a shanty settlement.
On December 28, 1999, the police raided a Jogeshwari slum and arrested three men -- Mohammed Rehan from Karachi, Pakistan; Mohammed Iqbal from Multan, Pakistan; and Asif, an Indian national.
Some documents, including a photograph of the hijackers, AK-56 rifles, hand grenades, anti-tank TNT shells, explosives and detonators were allegedly recovered from them.
After that the police raided Nepali's residence and arrested him.
It was revealed in the course of interrogations that Nepali was promised a lavish life in Pakistan by its Inter-Services Intelligence for his role in the operation.
The police were also tipped off about some others based in Kurar village in Malad, northwest Mumbai.
The police raided the place, but the men had fled.
Arms and ammunition were seized in the raid.
The Mumbai team was entrusted with arranging travel documents for the hijackers.
Since they had been living in Mumbai for some time, the neighbours did not suspect anything. One among them was a black belt and attended karate classes regularly.
The ISI had chosen Abdul Latif for the operation because of his roots in Mumbai.
He was employed in Saudi Arabia while his brother owned a juice shop in Mumbai.
Asif allegedly used his links to arrange documents, including driving licences and Indian passports, for the hijackers.
He arranged accommodation for the terrorists at three different locations, all at a distance of two to three kilometres from each other.
Photograph: Arun Patil | Image: Rahil Shaikh