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Saturday, May 21, 2011
India withdraws Pakistan ‘most wanted’ list after blunders* CBI takes down list from its website pending revision
MUMBAI: India has withdrawn a list of “most-wanted” fugitives allegedly being sheltered in Pakistan after the government learnt that at least two were in India – one of them in prison.
The list was handed to Pakistan earlier this year but only made public last week as India sought to increase pressure on Islamabad in the wake of the death of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Feroz Abdul Khan, whose name featured on the list of 50 top criminals said to be living across the border, has been in custody in India’s financial capital Mumbai for the last 15 months, his lawyer Farhana Shah told AFP.
Khan was arrested in connection with a shipment of arms and ammunition allegedly organised by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim before a series of deadly blasts in the city in 1993 that killed more than 250 people. He is currently in the high-security Arthur Road jail awaiting trial, Shah added.
Shah said her client was arrested on February 5, 2010, and was produced before court on February 15. He was given police custody for 15 days then remanded in prison.
Mumbai Police “have not coordinated” with the federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Shah said. The latest error comes after it was revealed earlier this week that another man on the list, Wazhur Qamar Khan, was actually living on the outskirts of Mumbai.
The CBI, which suspended one employee and transferred two others to other duties over the mistake surrounding Wazhur Qamar Khan, has now taken down the list from its website pending revision.
Indian Home Minister Chidambaram apologised, and said he was satisfied that the mistake was a “genuine oversight”. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk