india

Updated: Feb 10, 2020 15:36 IST

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday arrested 57-year-old Moosa Halari Munaf Abdul Majid alias Munaf, a resident of Mumbai’s Dongri who is an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. He also featured on India’s list of 50 most wanted terrorists.

Majid was arrested from Mumbai International Airport. “He was arrested for his involvement in a drug seizure where 35 kilogram of heroin worth Rs 175 crore was seized off Mandvi coast in Gujarat on January 2,” said Himanshu Shukla, deputy inspector general of police, Gujarat ATS.

Additional director general Deven Bharati of the Maharashtra ATS, too, confirmed Majid’s arrest. He was carrying a Pakistani passport when he arrived at the airport.

Majid, a member of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was number 18 on the list of top 50 wanted terrorists in the dossier that India had sent to Pakistan after the 26/11 terrorist attack. Mumbai crime branch sources said that he had procured three Bajaj scooters with registration number MH04Z261, MH05TC29, MH05TC16 from a dealer named Asgar Ali Tahir Ali Masalawala. Majid had procured the scooters after taking a loan of Rs 70,000 from his friend Rahid Shaikh.

Interestingly, when Majid was asked to repay the loan, he refused stating that the scooters were purchased by the mastermind of 1993 serial blast Tiger Memon, and that Memon had used it for the blasts. Majid had also cautioned his friend to not disclose the details to anyone failing which Tiger Memon would kill him and his family members.

According to CBI notice, one scooter exploded at Zaveri Bazar and two other exploded scooters were recovered from Naigaum cross road in Dadar, Mumbai.

A series of 13 bomb explosions shook Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing more than 250 people. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history which was coordinated by Dawood.