Mumbai: Cops finally make arrest in notorious Irani basti

Members of the Irani community explain to a mid-day reporter their anguish at being branded thieves and robbers. File Pic/Sameer Markande

The Irani locality in Ambivli, situated on the outskirts of Mumbai, is back in the news. The locality's residents are notorious for attacking the police if they arrive there to make arrests. This time, a police team from Mumbai, which had gone there to nab a resident who is an accused, was attacked on Tuesday night.

A team of Kalachowie cops zeroed in on the accused who had cheated a 78-year-old woman of her 10 gm gold chain worth Rs 40,000 on July 4 at Lalbaug Market. The accused was identified as Kabul Naushad Ali, 60. The detection team of Kalachowkie police had done a recee of the area to lay the trap to nab Ali.

The arrest

"The accused is a history-sheeter, and 29 offences have been registered against him in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Nashik city. We were keeping a close eye on his movements. We knew there were instances of locals attacking police teams in the past. Hence we laid the trap from 4 pm on Tuesday," said a cop from the team.

Two officers and seven constables from the Detection and Anti-Terrorist Cell were watching the accused. As soon as an informer indicated his arrival in Irani basti, the team tried to nab the accused. The police chased and nabbed him, but a crowd of locals started gathering. "They were trying to free him (accused) from our custody, but we didn't give in," added the officer.

As the cops were not freeing the accused, the crowd started pelting stones at them. The attack continued till cops managed to rush the accused to Ambivli railway station. When a train arrived at the platform, the police got in with the accused and took him to Mumbai. mid-day has reported on previous instances when members of the Irani community in the locality have attacked police teams.

In April this year, sleuths of the crime branch of Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police went to great lengths to nab a chain-snatcher at Ambivli. Fearing backlash, they mixed around in the community posing as fruit sellers, eatery owners, an autorickshaw driver, and did not shave and bathe for weeks. They also wore tattered slippers and soiled clothes, just to conduct a recce for 15 days in the area.
Once they managed to catch hold of 24-year-old Abbas Amjad Irani, the cops literally carried him on their shoulders over 500 metres to avoid locals, and then crossed railway tracks to arrest him.

Police view

The local police blame the visiting police teams for lack of coordination and intimation. "As per standard operating procedure (SOP), any police team taking action or having operations in other commissionerates should inform the local police. Most of the time when the attack happens, the police team hasn't informed us. In fact if they come under attack, they must at least inform us later so that we can file a case, but this also doesn't happen," said a cop from Khadakpada police station.

DCP (Zone 3) Sachin Gunjal, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, said, "We are aware of the behaviour of the (Irani) community and have witnessed such instances of resistance in past. But every time a visiting police team informed us or got us involved, the operation was completed without any problems. We urge cops to inform us before hand. We are here to help but if teams think otherwise, the reaction is adverse".

However, a cop who was part of an MHB police raid had a different perspective. "Sometimes we don't inform the local police because the residents are familiar with their faces. We understand the risk of operating without local support but if the people get an idea of operations in advance after identifying the cops, we can't even lay a trap," he said.

Another senior officer of Thane Police said, "It is understandable that some cops feel the involvement of the local police will lead to the failure of their operation, but they must consider the danger in such operations."