Mumbai blasts' Nepal link phony

KATHMANDU, July 28: It has been found that the arrest of a Nepali national in the capital in connection with the July 13 Mumbai blasts was made by Nepal police as a customary courtesy towards the Indian counterparts.



Mohamed Jahid, 30, of Siraha, has already been proved innocent as nothing was traced against him as doubted by the Indian authorities rashly in the wake of the Mumbai blasts. A public offence charge was ´purposefully´ brought against Jahid so as to detain him for ´substantial interrogation´.[break]



Officials spoke in confidence to Republica that Mumbai Police had asked Nepal Police to pick and interrogate Jahid on the basis of some phone calls that he made from Nepal to an Indian number at about the same time the blow-ups took place and to somebody who happened to be around one of the blast sites.



"It is one of the hundreds of phone calls they sampled for investigations and Jahid´s call was tracked as it hailed from Nepal, one of the prime places that Indian authorities believe are used by terrorists as a safe haven after their crimes," said a high-ranking officer based in the Police headquarters.



Eying at Jahid, Indian authorities were looking for a fluky result, something investigators, said officials, try out when there is any holocaust like that of Mumbai.



Anti-terrorist Cell (ATC) had picked Jahid from Thaintee, where he does embroidery works, on July 15 and placed him at Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu after initial interrogations.



ATC acted on the information provided by the Indian authorities. Jahid, however, remained consistent with his statement that he had called his relatives working in Mumbai, and nothing more was unraveled to substantiate suspicions by the Indian authorities.



Though Jahid is already in the clear, police have still kept him in detention for a few more days, keeping the gravity of the crime in mind.





Both Nepali and Indian police have been closely working for each other in terms of arresting and handing over suspects and accused that are identified in the territory of either country though the neighboring countries have not so far signed any extradition treaty. ATC mostly works to this end. This year only, Indian Police, arrested and handed over Sandeep Pathak and Rohit Paliwal, two accused wanted by Nepal police.



Following some media reports about Jahid´s detention, Nepal Police has found it difficult to settle the case. "We are facing a tough choice in setting him free because the news of his detention in the sensitive case has gone far and wide," said an official."We will release him as soon as possible."



"This is a regular phenomenon for the intelligence wings of the two countries," said a senior officer with a long stint with ATC." The only difference is that in this case case, the news has came out of the closet."



ATC had even arrested a suspicious Chinese national, a Yugur fugitive, in the capital some ten years ago and handed him over to the Chinese embassy. The embassy, in turn, confirmed him as the accused of a Beijing blast and sent him back to China for prosecution, an official said.



Officially, Nepal Police has refuted that Jahid´s arrest was made in connection with the Mumbai blasts. Police Spokesman Navaraj Dhakal said through a press statement on Wednesday evening that Jahid was apprehended and prosecuted on a public offence charge.

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