In Mumbai, the RPF, GRP at Dadar as well as the Mumbai ATS were in a tizzy over a possible terror plot after being handed a purse with a cryptic message indicating blasts in Mumbai and Pune
CCTV grab of the woman at the station
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Muzaffar Shaha had no idea what hit him on Friday evening, when he was hauled out of his house and bombarded with question after baffling question by the Pune Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
In Mumbai, the RPF, GRP at Dadar as well as the Mumbai ATS were in a tizzy over a possible terror plot after being handed a purse with a cryptic message indicating blasts in Mumbai and Pune. A day-and-a-half into the probe, the authorities discovered that it was in fact a revenge plot gone wrong.
The incident
According to senior RPF officials, on June 2, around 9.30 am, RPF constables Ashok Kumar and Dheeraj Kumar were on duty at the Dadar BMC bridge, when a 24-year-old woman approached them with a blue purse she said she had found on the staircase.
Purse the woman said she had found
The constables told her to accompany them to the stationmaster's office for further action, but she said she was in a hurry and left. At the RPF office, Assistant Sub-Inspector K M Bachav found a R100 note and a handwritten chit inside the purse which talked about the possibility of blasts in Mumbai and Pune, along with a few telephone numbers.
"As the incident happened within city police limits, the Bhoiwada police, too, were informed and accordingly, the ATS started a parallel probe," said the RPF officer.
Probe begins
Senior security officers said the mobile numbers on the chit were traced to Pune, and the ATS team there picked up Shaha from his residence and started interrogating him.
The note that the cops found inside the purse
Meanwhile, the GRP in Dadar had started checking all CCTV cameras at the station to find the woman who had given them the purse. They finally found a hazy shot of her and the grab was sent to the Pune ATS. Shaha immediately identified the woman.
Love matters
Muzzaffar told the ATS officers that he was in a relationship with the woman for four years and she was keen on marrying him. But, Muzzaffar was jobless, already married and had two children.
The GRP and RPF then laid a trap for the woman on Saturday and detained her when she was spotted. The woman told the cops that Muzzaffar had cheated her by concealing the fact that he was married. When she insisted that he marry her, he started avoiding her. That's when she decided to teach him a lesson.
Confirming the probe, senior inspector N S Bobade of Dadar railway police station said, "We have recorded the woman's statement and she was later handed over to the city police for questioning."
In her statement, the woman told the police that her father had died a few years ago and her mother lived in Ratnagiri. She was living alone in Mumbai at Dadar (E). She hatched the revenge plan after Muzzaffar went back on his word, the officer said.
ATS probing
The ATS, meanwhile, is not letting the matter go this easily and, till the time of going to press, continued to question both Muzzaffar in Pune and the woman in Mumbai.
Psychiatrists speak
Dr Anjali Deshpande, a psychiatrist at Thane mental hospital said, "One must take into account a lot of parameters before concluding if the action is a result of a mental or personality disorder, which compels individuals to behave strangely. People in such situations must learn to calm down and remain composed. If that is not possible, they should seek professional help."
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