Daijiworld Media Network - Bhatkal (SP)

Bhatkal, Apr 9: The two-day high drama following the whisking away of Ismail Musba Rawoof (34) by the investigating agencies for interrogation by projecting him as a suspect, only to release him later, has once again brought Bhatkal to limelight. Musba, who was to go to Dubai by a flight from Pune, was released after the agencies declared him innocent.

Officials are now trying to seek shelter under the cover of 'mistaken identity' claim for this fiasco, it is learnt. Notably, for the second time the investigating officials have stumbled after trying to kick up a din by relying perhaps entirely on the notorious tag the town had earned in the past.

Pune and Bhatkal appear to be not supplementing each other well, going by the past experience. Relating to the German Bakery blast at Pune, Abdul Samad from Mugdam Colony here had been arrested by Anti-Terrorist Squad sleuths from Mumbai in 2010 from Mangaluru international airport. Rumours ran thick and thin then about Samad having been sighted in the CCTV footage of German Bakery. Unsubstantiated stories about Samad claimed that he was active in Indian Mujahideen organization and that he was in possession of arms.

Strangely, the then union home minister, Chidambaram, relying on the claims of the investigating officers, even went to the extent of announcing that the officials had arrested the mastermind behind German Bakery blast. On their part, family members of Samad produced before the media a video of Samad taking part in a marriage programme here during the period the blast occurred at Pune. The officials let off Samad after questioning him persistently for 40 days. Even in that case, the officials put forth forward the 'mistaken identity' theory. Thereafter, the allegation about the said blast was shifted to his brother, Ahmed Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, who is currently in jail.

It is said that the officials have been trying hard to prove the said allegation. The recent victim of this attitude of the agencies was Ismail Musba, resident of Ameenuddin Road here. Ismail got spotted because his name also comes with addition of Abdul Rawoof.

NIA officials say that they had questioned 24 Indian youths who had clearly leaned towards ISIS. One among them, Mudabeer Sheikh, had mentioned the name of Rawoof. Ismail's father's name is Abdul Rawoof. For this reason, Ismail was taken into custody believing him to be the same Rawoof, it is said.

Some sources claim that the fact that Ismail happened to be hailing from Bhatkal got the attention of some officials, who have been over-enthusiastic in their mission to eye this town with suspicion. The officials realized their folly after questioning the youth. Ismail, who had planned to visit Dubai in search of job, is in a dilemma about continuing with his hunt for job.

Ismail reached his home on Friday April 8.

Majlis-e-Islah-wa-Tanzeem here, which happens to be the leading social organization of the Muslims from this region, has branded this as careless conduct of top investigating agencies of the country, terming it as a dangerous development. Spokesperson of the organization, Haneef Shabab, noted that it is the duty of every citizen of the country to stay committed to national security. He feels that arresting of innocent people by terming them as suspects, coming out with unreliable stories about them, and making efforts to link them with ISIS is an insult to the people of Bhatkal. He has questioned the inability of the agencies which claims to have issued lookout notice three to four months back, and then failing to properly identify the accused.

While there is no doubt that investigation officials need to do their duty and in the process may find themselves questioning the wrong persons, stress should also be laid on the fact that innocents should not be made to go through trauma that they may never forget in a lifetime. When reputation and future of individuals and families are stake, it is best to maintain secrecy of operation until the officials are sure that they have caught the right person. Unncessarily giving statements to the media and then terming it 'mistaken identity' when they falter is not correct, as by then the damage would already have been done to the family involved.