Mumbai: Cops make arrest in notorious Irani basti

The Irani locality in Ambivali situated on the outskirts of Mumbai is back in the news The localitys residents are notorious for attacking the police if they arrive there to make arrestsThis 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 78yearold woman of her 10 gm gold chain worth Rs 40000 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 AliThe arrestldquoThe accused is a historysheeter and has 29 offences in Mumbai Navi Mumbai Thane Nashik city as well registered against him We were keeping a close eye on his movements We knew there were instances of attack on police teams in the past hence we laid the trap from 4pm on Tuesday said a cop from the teamTwo officers and 7 constables from the Detection and AntiTerrorist 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 ldquoThey were trying to free him accused from our custody but we didnrsquot give in added the officerAs 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 Ambivali railway station When a train arrived at the platform the police got in with the accused and took him to MumbaiThis is not the first time when members of the Irani community in the locality have attacked a police team midday has reported on previous such instancesIn 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 Ambivali Fearing backlash they mixed up in the community 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 recce for 15 days in the area Once they managed to catch hold of 24yearold Abbas Amjad Irani the cops literally carried him on their shoulders for over 500metres to avoid locals attacking them and then crossed railway tracks to arrest himPolice viewThe local police blame the visiting police teams for lack of coordination and intimation ldquoAs 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 hasnrsquot 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 doesnrsquot happenrdquo said a cop from Khadakpada police stationDCP Zone 3 Sachin Gunjal under whose jurisdiction the controversial area falls said ldquoWe 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 we are here to help but if teams think otherwise the reaction is adverserdquoHowever a cop who was part of an MHB police raid had a different perspective ldquoSometimes we donrsquot inform the local police because the local residents are familiar with their faces We understand risk of operating without local support but if the people get an idea of operations in advance after identifying the cops we canrsquot even lay a traprdquo he saidAnother senior officer from Thane police said ldquoIt is understandable that the cops who feel the involvement of local cops will lead to failure of their operations but they must consider the danger in such operationsrdquo