MUMBAI: Ahead of the New Year festivities, a 32-year-old Kashmiri man has been arrested on suspicion of being a militant after he was picked up from an Andheri hotel for a fight with the hotel staff.
The police seized a fake Aadhar card and at least 12 leave and licence agreements with different names from the suspect’s possession.
The police found an Aadhar card in the name of Dr Bashit Shah but with the photograph of the suspect, who was identified as Shaukat Ahmed Mohamed Ramzan Lone.
Lone was arrested on December 23 and placed in police custody in a case of cheating and forgery.
The police also arrested a lawyer from Bandra for providing the suspect with a notarised stamp on the leave and licence agreement prepared on a stamp paper, which was one of the 12 agreements seized from the suspected militant.
The lawyer reportedly told the police that he had notarised the agreement paper after verifying the supporting documents that were attached with it and he had no role in any crime.
The suspect and the lawyer will both remain in police custody till Tuesday.
“The investigation is on to know since when Lone has been staying in Mumbai with fake identities. He was caught because of the fight he had with the hotel staff. We have seized his mobiles and another gadget, which is sent for forensic analysis to retrieve information,” said a police officer at the Sahar police station.
The suspect was booked under Section 420 (cheating), Section 465 (forgery), Section 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and Section 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly used as genuine any document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code.
With under a week left for the New Year, the police are conducting security drives across the city, including checking the guest list at hotels and lodges. They have combed more than 240 locations and verified the activities of 1,073 history-sheeters who are out on bail or released from jail.
