MUMBAI police have begun extradition proceedings for Chaneparambil Mohammed Bashir, the alleged SIMI leader and accused of the 2003 Mulund bombings, who was detained by authorities in Canada after he tried to fly from there earlier this week.
A Red Corner notice was issued against him after he was named as one of the wanted defendants in the Mulund blasts case, in which 12 people had lost their lives.
Better known as CAM Bashir, he was born in Kerala and was an aeronautical engineer before he reportedly became the national president of the banned SIMI. His name was on the list of India’s 50 most wanted criminals who were allegedly hiding in Pakistan in 2011.
According to an IPS official, “There was a red corner notice issued against his name. Earlier this week, when he tried to fly out of Canada, airport authorities detained him after seeing that there was an RCN against his name. They then contacted us and sought proof of his identity.”
Following this, the Mumbai The crime branch of the police this week applied for permission from a special court to take blood samples from a relative of Bashir for a DNA profile test.
The request was filed by the criminal branch’s Unit VI to search for the blood sample of Bashir’s sister, based in Ernakulam, Kerala. The special court has allowed the guilty plea.
He said that the officers can go to the medical officers of the nearest government hospital or to the medical officers of any licensed hospital that is closer to the relative’s home.
The court ordered the relative to cooperate with the investigative agency and provide blood samples for DNA profile testing.
On December 6, 2002, an explosion occurred in the main concourse area of the Mumbai Central Railway Station. More than a month later, on January 27, 2003, another explosion occurred in a market in the western suburbs of Vile Parle. The third explosion took place on March 13, 2003 in a compartment of a local train in Mulund. Twelve people had lost their lives in these explosions. Police invoked the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and arrested 13 people. Bashir was named a wanted defendant and police claimed his role was to provide funds for the conspiracy.
On April 6, 2016, the Mumbai special court sentenced 10 of the 13 men. He sentenced three of those convicted to life in prison, from four to 10 years in prison, including Saquib Nachan and one, Muzammil Ansari, to life in prison to natural death for planting the bombs.