Calcutta police’s crack Special Task Force faced embarrassment on Monday when a terror suspect who was supposed to be under watch slipped out of the net even as Gujarat police sent word that he should be arrested.
The accused, Harun, had allegedly been in touch with Danish Riaz, arrested in Ahmedabad three weeks ago for his suspected role in the 2008 serial blasts that killed 56 people.
Harun had been arrested in Gujarat in 2006 along with several other activists of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India. He returned to Calcutta after being granted bail, only to rejoin an allegedly subversive network controlled by the Indian Mujahideen.
The task force, which was supposed to keep tabs on Harun, went to his Metiabruz residence on Monday morning after receiving an alert from Gujarat police, but the 20-something youth had flown the coop.
A task force officer claimed that Harun could not have been arrested even if the team had found him because Gujarat police did not follow protocol. “There is no case pending against Harun in the city. So we can legitimately arrest him and hand him over to Gujarat police only if there is an official requisition note from them. They haven’t sent one so far.”