Tiger Hanif, who is wanted in India in connection with two bomb attacks in Gujarat in 1993, has been ordered to be extradited to India by a British judge who called him a "classic fugitive" during a hearing in London.
Indian investigating and intelligence agencies say Tiger Hanif, who faces extradition to India, managed to give them the slip for 17 years, is riding on a whole load of information pertaining to the Dawood Ibrahim-Lashkar-e-Tayiba network.
The British government has turned down India's request for the extradition of Tiger Hanif, an alleged aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim wanted in India in connection with two bomb blasts in Surat in 1993, the UK home office has confirmed.
Tiger Hanif, an alleged aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and wanted in connection with two bomb blasts in Gujarat in 1993, has made a final bid to avoid being extradited to India from the UK.
A key suspect in the 1993 Surat bombing, hunted by police worldwide for over 17 years, was arrested from a north England grocery store and a London city court will decide over his extradition to India. 49-year-old Mohammed Hanif Umerji Patel alias Tiger Hanif was traced to the grocery store in Bolton by Scotland Yard and later arrested from a house in Astley Street in Halliwell on February 16, a spokesman of the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
The judge observed that although they were not part of the inner circle of the conspiracy, their participation in training camps and their consent to go to Pakistan for arms training suggested their active involvement.
If the absconding jeweller is traced in Britain, the extradition request to the UK government could follow a similar course as the case of embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya
'The entire idea behind the serial bomb blasts was to strike fear in the minds of Indians.' 'I don't think the blasts were targeted to derail the Indian economy; the idea behind the blasts was retribution.'
The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is the only Indian prize that honours a first-time author. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
The latest admission appears to be a u-turn by the government, which in the past, has maintained that the underworld don lives in Pakistan.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the probe into the murder of Hanif Kadawala, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case who gave an AK-56 rifle to actor Sanjay Dutt, and registered a case against gangster Chhota Rajan and his accomplices in this regard.
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.