Mumbai riots accused nabbed after 18 years

Mumbai: The Dindoshi police have arrested a 47-year-old man who was wanted for the 1992 Mumbai riots. He was living under a false identity for all almost 18 years after he was declared wanted by the sessions court in 2004. He was arrested from the Dindoshi bus depot area after the police received a tip-off on Saturday.

According to the Dindoshi police, the accused – Tabrez Khan alias Mansuri – had been allegedly involved in one of the riots that took place at Malad (East) during the Mumbai 1992 riots after which he has been absconding.

The Mumbai riots that took place between Dec 1992 and Jan 1993 were communal riots that broke out in the city leaving hundreds dead or injured and causing massive destruction of private and public property.

In 1992, nine people had been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rioting. A charge sheet was filed in a sessions court and of the total nine accused, two were acquitted by the court and one of the suspects passed away.

The police had been on the lookout for him since 2004. “We recently received some information through sources about the whereabouts of the accused who had been living with a changed identity for the past 18 years. He was working as a real estate agent and was residing in Malad (East),” said an official.