ATS Raid in Maharashtra: Cops detain, grill two more for over 10 hours

The accused who were arrested late Monday night were produced in court on Wednesday. Pic/Abdul Basit

The Aurangabad ATS detained two more youngsters, aged 17 and 21, from the Baijipura area of old Aurangabad in the wee hours of Thursday. After ATS sleuths questioned them for more than 12 hours, the youths were allowed to go home. The families of the detained youths refused to talk, but neighbours were shocked to learn about the detention.

The 21-year-old is a Std XII pass from the science stream and is unemployed. The boy's father is a vegetable seller. "I don't know what to say about this, I have no words," the shocked father said. The middle class family who live in a one-plus-one house is known in the neighbourhood to be hardworking. "The boy lives with his father, mother and a brother. We don't think the boys are into this alleged network," said a neighbour on condition of anonymity.

The 17-year-old detained is a Std XII student of a private college in old Aurangabad. The boy lost his father two years ago and lives with his elder brother and mother. "The elder brother has a garage in the Waluj area and the younger one used to help out there," said a neighbour. "When the cops came to pick up the boy he looked very scared. Let's hope he hasn't done anything wrong" said a neighbour. The boy's brother refused to speak, claiming ATS had forbidden them from doing so. Meanwhile, top officials of the Aurangabad unit refused to comment.

Funds trail from Mumbra
During investigation, it has also been found that R75,000 had been sent by Mohammed Mazhar Sheikh to mastermind Mohsin Khan in the course of two months. The cops sealed the accounts of Mohsin at a private bank in Chistiya Chowk in Aurangabad. "The first instalment was of R25,000 and other was of R50,000. Mohsin claimed the money had been borrowed from Mohammed for his sister's wedding to Sarfaraz Ahmed, another accused in the case.

More detentions?
A WhatsApp group created by Mohsin to propagate religious content has 20 members. The cops are keeping track of the remaining 11 members after the arrest of the nine. "We are checking all chats and trying to find out the nature of each one's involvement. We may question some more youngsters from the group," said a highly placed ATS source.

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