Police fear ISI mole at CST airport

Police fear ISI mole at CST airport
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JULY 24: The Mumbai police suspect there could be a major security breach at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the adjoining cargo complex after getting information that notorious gangster Chhota Shakeel has managed to set up a network at the sensitive points in the city.

Startling facts came to light after officers of the Crime Branch arrested Ramesh Shetty alias Tambi from his workplace at Sahar. The suspect is attached to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at Sahar Cargo Complex.

Officers of the Crime Branch fear that Shetty could be one of the many Shakeel henchmen employed at the airport. Their involvement in large-scale gunrunning and smuggling cannot be ruled out, said a Crime Branch officer.

Shetty and four other members of the Shakeel gang were arrested when they hatched a plot to kill a Shiv Sena `shakhapramukh' and a city journalist to spread terror in the city, preliminary investigation have revealed.

The five-member hit squad were arrested near Ratna Mahal Hotel at Andheri (East) by a special squad under Assistant Police Inspector Pradeep Sharma, Arun Borude, Prakash Bhandari and PSI Daya Nayak on Friday evening. The gangsters were nabbed after the officers were tracking the movement of the gangsters.

Sources in the intelligence agencies pointed out that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have been trying to plant their moles in sensitive places like Mumbai airport and the docks. The Shakeel gangster could be one of the many men who have been working for the overseas don in and around Sahar and Santacruz domestic airport.

The other gangsters have been identified as Rajesh Khtoch alias Pinky, Sunil Bhenwai alias Rahul, Vinod Junwal alias Radheshyam and Vishnu Kumawat.

The police said the arrest also throws light on the fact Shakeel has been successful in recruiting shooters from outside the State. Interestingly, all the shooters in the case are Hindus, which makes it even more difficult to link them to the Karachi-based gangsters and arrest them.