Village home phone was tapped, interpreter put on job
Village home phone was tapped, interpreter put on job
His mother waited to receive her Gulf-returned son at the airport. Jetlagged passengers streamed into the arrival lounge one by one, but there was no sign of Abdul Samad.
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| KEEPING WATCH: An interpreter, assigned to listen in to telephonic conversations at Abdul Samad's residence, is surprised to learn that Samad is planning to fly down to Mangalore. ILLUSTRATIONS/SAMEER PAWAR |
Over an hour later, the mother learnt that he had been quietly whisked away to Mumbai in a chartered plane waiting on the tarmac, even before he reached the arrival lounge of the Bajpe airport in Mangalore, early on Sunday.
The stage for the suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative's arrest had been set in advance in a covert operation between officers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad and National Investigation Agency (NIA).
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| LYING IN WAIT: Cops wait at the airport for Samad's flight from Abu Dhabi |
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| WHISKED AWAY: They apprehend Samad and lead him to the chartered aircraft |
The sleuths had pitched camp in Mangalore for four days and the chartered aircraft kept ready to fly him to Mumbai for investigation.
The intelligence officials had tapped the telephone at Samad's home in Bhatkal village, nearly 40 km from Mangalore city.
Initially though, the telephonic conversations were difficult to interpret as they were in Navani -- a melange of Kannada and Arabic.
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| WHERE'S MY SON? Even as his mother waits outside the airport, the chartered plane takes off for Mumbai with Samad on board |
For the past few months, an interpreter had been put on the job to decipher the talk.
Officers alarmedThe team of officers was alarmed on hearing that Samad was scheduled to fly down to Mangalore on Sunday.
No sooner did Samad disembark from the Abu Dhabi flight than he was escorted to the chartered aircraft.
Within minutes, the sleuths were winging their way to Mumbai, their prize catch in custody.
The operation was completed even as the Mangalore airport was buzzing with relatives of the previous day's plane crash.
In police custodyIn Mumbai, Samad was presented before a magistrate who remanded him in police custody till June 1. He has been charged under the Arms Act.
Sources in NIA said Samad is possibly linked to the Mumbai train blasts. His name had cropped up during another IM suspect's interrogation.
It is possible that Samad is aware of the bomber involved in Pune's German Bakery blast.
