Mumbai’s Urdu Times Daily report alleges police conspiracy to trap Muslims through planting weapons

A resident of Malegaon, Abdus Salam Abdul Rauf, 35, has claimed in the affidavit that three police officers from Amravati, Malegaon and Delhi were hatching a conspiracy to ensnare Muslims through showing them as importing weapons in huge quantities and wanted to make Abdus Salam as the kingpin of the conspiracy.

Jamiat-ul-Ulama has appealed to Union Home Minister Gaawat to take immediate action against those police officers whose names have been cited in the affidavit. While on the other hand, Jamiat is preparing to file a petition in the court.  The affidavit, a copy of which is with Urdu Times, was prepared by an Aurangabad Notary, Advocate Girish Salchi on 23 March 2007 and has been certified by Advocate Majeed Memon.

According the affidavit Abdus Salam Abdul Rauf is a labourer and due to the police externment orders, he is not living in Malegaon. He admitted in the affidavit that he was informer of the ex-SP of Malegaon and of the SP of Amravati, Krishan Prakash.

According to him that Krishan Prakash had given a miscall from Amravati from his mobile 9422884670 to my mobile 9226990233 and when Abdus Salam Abdul Rauf replied, he asked him to come to Amravati. Later he left for Amravati on 17 March by Soni Travels' bus and reached Amravati around morning of Sunday, 18 March. According the written affidavit, as soon he stepped off from bus, four policemen cornered him and placed a gun on my chest and told to come with them. On this, Abdus Salam Abdul Rauf said to the policemen that he has come to meet SP Krishan Prakash and he told his name as Sallu. Police released him after phone contact with SP. He reached SP office by auto rickshaw but the offices were locked. He then went over to SP's home, where the SP took him by his car to a bungalow and introduced him with a person, telling me that "he is from Delhi and holds position higher to me".

Abdus Salam Abdul Rauf declared in his affidavit that SP had shown him 8-10 bundles of 500 notes and told him, that if you do what we told you to do, all this amount will be given to him.

According the written affidavit, Abdul Salam declares: "they showed me many new guns, bullets in huge quantities and some powder etc. and told me to keep all these things with me." They said, we will capture you as the main leader with these arms and explosives somewhere outside and will call media and we will give you names of people from Malegaon and other places, whom you will accuse as being the people who had given you the arms and explosives. You will admit in front of media that all these weapons were given by them. We will later make a Sec. 169 report about you and you will be released as innocent after some days.

In the affidavit, it further written that during these briefings, Krishan Prakash had repeatedly phoned Malegaon SP Rajesh Pradhan. And this can be proved by mobile records of both their phones.

According to Abdus Salam Abdul Rauf affidavit, he worriedly rushed from Amravati but received threatening calls that his life will be done with.

According to him, there was a conspiracy to involve him by SP Krishan Prakash, SP Rajesh Pradhan and the officer that came from Delhi.

Abdul Salam has declared in the affidavit that his life is in danger from the police and he would be murdered.

"I feel that police department is concocting a weapons scandal in a conspiracy to entrap innocent Muslims" --- Abdus Salaam had written in affidavit.

This affidavit was received by Jamiatul-Ulama, Malegaon on 24 March 2007 and they informed Union Home Minister on 25 March, appealing him to take action against SP Krishan Prakash, SP Rajesh Pradhan and unidentified officers of Delhi. Jamiat had blamed that Indian secret agencies are being used by Sang Parivar and foreign secret agencies such as MOSSAD.

General Secretary of Jamiatul-Ulama Malegaon, Maulana Abdul Qayyum has called for action against all those who are bent on creating false characterization of Muslims minority in India.

According to the sources, advocate Shahid Azmi is preparing a petition to be filed with the Court on behalf of Jamiatul-Ulama.