Thirty-one years after being granted bail and then absconding, the Mumbai police have track down and re-arrested a man accused of crimes related to the 1992-93 Mumbai riots. Sayyed Nadirshah Abbas Khan, 65, was taken into custody by a team of police officials from his home in Sewri, south-central Mumbai, over the weekend. Khan had been arrested previously under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including attempt to murder and riot-related cases, but had jumped bail and failed to attend his trial proceedings.
Khan was named as an accused in a case of attempted murder and unlawful assembly during the communal riots that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. After being granted bail from judicial custody, Khan disappeared, and an arrest warrant was issued against him in 1995. For years, the police had been searching for him, and in 2003, he was declared a proclaimed absconder by a court. The court even issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
Mumbai Police
Despite the passage of time, the police had not given up on tracking down Khan. Recently, they managed to obtain mobile phone records from his relatives, which led them to believe that Khan was planning to visit his Sewri home on Saturday. The investigators laid a trap for him and re-arrested him when he showed up.
Speaking to the media, Station Senior Police Inspector Satish Pawar of the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg Police station, said, “After having been granted bail from judicial custody, Sayyed Khan had disappeared. An arrest warrant had been issued against him way back in 1995. We were on the look-out for him for years. Subsequently, he was declared by a court as a proclaimed absconder. The court had even issued a non-bailable warrant against him.” With Khan back in custody, the police will now attempt to re-trial him on the charges against him.
