Mumbai auto-driver overhears suspicious conversation, reports alleged terror plot to police

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Crime Branch officials received a tip-off about an alleged terror plot in Mumbai from an unexpected source — an auto-driver who overheard a suspicious conversation between his passengers. The passengers reportedly spoke in Malaya and a Punjabi-Urdu dialect and mentioned Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist involved in 26/11 attacks, which roused the suspicions of the driver and prompted him to report the incident, according to a report by Mid-Day. [caption id=“attachment_2465076” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. IBNLive[/caption] “He (driver, name withheld) told us his suspicion turned into conviction when he heard one of them say ‘Kaam hone ke baad family ko bhi sambhal lenge. Kuch nahi hoga, aaka hai. Kasab ke family ko bhi sambhaal rahe hai na’ (After the work is done we will take care of your family. Don’t worry, Aaka is there. We have been taking care of Kasab’s family as well),” Mid-Day quoted a source within the ATS as saying. The auto-driver had earlier worked in Malaysia and understood both languages hence, could discern what the passengers were saying, reported The Times of India. The three suspects boarded his rickshaw on Saturday evening near Sion flyover with three large suitcases and told the driver to take them towards Airoli toll naka, says a Mumbai Mirror report. This tip-off had Mumbai security forces on alert as it coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city on Sunday. “We have drawn sketches of the three suspects based on the description provided by the auto driver. We are also in the process of talking to the auto driver and conducting an inquiry ,” an officer was quoted by The Times of India as saying. The Navi Mumbai anti-terrorist cell also carried conducted search operations around the city and set up roadblocks and examined the CCTV footage from the Airoli toll plaza. While it remains to be seen whether the passengers were in fact involved with terrorist activities or organisations, Modi’s Mumbai visit went off without a security glitch.