04 February,2017 08:30 AM IST | | Sailee Dhayalkar and Asif Rizvi
A month after mid-day first broke the story about Mustafa Dossa enjoying romantic train ride with wife, Mumbai Police suspended an officer after inquiry report found him guilty of arranging the 'date night'
Mustafa Dossa and Shabina Khatri had spent the night together in the train
A month after this paper first broke the story about how 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts accused Mustafa Dossa enjoyed a romantic train ride with his wife, the Mumbai Police suspended an officer after an inquiry report found him guilty of arranging the 'date night' for the terrorist he was supposed to be escorting to Porbandar. Yesterday, the cops submitted the inquiry report in court, confirming mid-day's January 2 expose.
The police report presents plenty of evidence to show that Mustafa Dossa was joined by his wife Shabina Khatri during the train ride to Porbandar, where he was headed for a hearing on the 1993 blasts.
Assistant Police Inspector Ayaz Patel has been suspended
What's more, the report states that the couple was also together on the return journey to Mumbai.
Cop leading escort party found guilty
Mumbai Police spokesperson Ashok Dudhe told this reporter, "The officer in charge of the escort team, Assistant Police Inspector Ayaz Patel, was found guilty and suspended."
Mustafa Dossa is escorted out of Arthur Road jail on December 25
mid-day had revealed how the very mein in uniform who were supposed to be escorting Dossa to the trial had instead looked the other way so he could canoodle with his wife.
The cops went out of their way to give the couple privacy - the eight policemen in the escort detail went out and stood guard at the end of the coach (S3), leaving the terrorist totally unattended.
They go to Bombay Central station to catch a train to Porbandar for a court hearing
Findings of the inquiry
The police report offers ample evidence while outlining Khatri's journey from Mumbai to Porbandar.
"For one, her name is on the passenger list of a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Vadodara. CCTV footage and statements from fellow passengers in the coach confirm that she joined Dossa in coach S3 at Vadodara station," said a top police officer.
Dossa boards sleeper coach S3 of Saurashtra Express
One of the cops on Dossa's escort detail confirmed that the couple spent the night together in the coach. The inquiry report also took into consideration Khatri's Facebook check-in at Porbandar with the caption 'Love in the AIR'.
After mid-day's report last month, Dossa's lawyer argued that Khatri was not his wife. However, the police found that she would regularly visit him at Arthur Road jail and would sign in the visitors' book as his wife.
Meanwhile, Shabina Khatri flies from Mumbai to Baroda
The Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) court has taken the inquiry report on record and a copy will be given to the prosecutor and Dossa's lawyer.
She heads to Vadodara station to join Dossa on his journey to Porbandar
Clad in a burqa, Khatri also joins Dossa in coach S3 of the same train
Dossa and his wife spend the night together. At Porbandar, Khatri posts a check-in with the caption 'Love in the AIR' with a slew of emoticons. Illustration/Ravi Jadhav
This mid-day investigation exposed how cops turned a blind eye as Mustafa Dossa canoodled with his wife while en route to a 1993 terror attack trial in Porbandar
The police report mentions Khatri's FB post with a check-in at Porbandar with the caption 'Love in the AIR'
