Does the Enforcement Department or Delhi Police, who arrested Nasir Safi Mir in Delhi and recovered from his possession Rs.55 lakh, RDX and arms, deserve bouquets or brickbats? We pose the question after going through the entire macabre adventures of the man who, way back in 1990, came to be known to have links with the militant organizations. Even a layman, after going through the story that has percolated down from his interrogation, will feel bewildered at the inefficiency of the police, security, vigilance and anti-terrorism agencies, one and all, on how this man has been swindling and befooling them not for one or two years but continuously right from 2006 to present day when he was first arrested for clandestine links with terrorists. If nothing else, at least, his father’s known links with militant organizations should have alerted security and police authorities about what perfidy the man was capable of doing. This should have invited extraordinary caution on the part of law enforcing agencies as well as the judiciary while handling the case. The affluence in which he has been living with base in Dubai should have given sufficient hint to the police authorities that everything was not so simple and straight with this man. If he was regularly reporting to police about his presence during the period when on bail, did the police make silent and subtle probes into his connections, acquaintances, life style, associates and all activities? There is no proof of having recorded anything of the sort. If it had been recorded and his links had been kept ready to be exploited in case of exigency, he would not have been able to flee to Nepal and then from there run away to a foreign country with a clandestine passport. Why did not the security authorities make full enquiry from 2008 to present day about his movements in Dubai and his ability to get a fake passport issued in his name on which he travelled?
How can we dismiss the doubt that he has been helped by insiders to disappear from Delhi when on bail and surface in Nepal? If the reports of his presence in Nepal were in hand, why was nothing done to extradite him but allow him the opportunity to give a slip to the security agencies. This is not so simple a story that will have takers. He has been in full focus so much so that a casual enquiry was made from Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar who dismissed the doubt or accusation quite summarily. Who does not know that hawala funds flow to all separatist and secessionist groups besides the militants in Kashmir? This has been going on ever since the surfacing of militancy in 1990. A loud noise had been made by the media, the police and other concerned agencies about hawala money being transferred to militant organizations and individual conduits underground as well as over-ground. But till date no foolproof mechanism has been hammered to put a halt to this illegal activity. Who wants to block the flow of enormous funds when there are so many actors ready to grease their palms? Anti-terrorism culture has become an industry for some and at the cost of the security, development and health of the State.
But saying so does not mean that we do not appreciate and applaud the sense of duty among those security and police personnel who are really patriotic and dedicated to their duty. Most of them are and deserve our appreciation. After this diehard crony who had been giving slip after slip has been trapped along with money, arms and explosives. What he has disclosed to sleuths shows that there is a fairly widespread network of hawala operatives in the country and apprehending one does not mean the entire network has been busted. It could be just the tip of the iceberg. As such, on the basis of the story that he has related, our internal and external intelligence agencies need to upgrade their anti-terrorist operations. One can say with fair amount of certitude that the money laundering and hawala transactions have sucked in quite a number of Government functionaries even at the higher rungs as well. So far their misdoings have not come to light for reasons which we all know. But as honest and committed cadres in various organizations related to law and order enforcement, perform their duty in conformity with the law of the land, we should expect that all clandestine channels of importing cash will be plugged.
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