Mumbai: On October 27, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a 33-year-old software engineer Zuber Hangargekar for his alleged links with the terror organisation Al Qaeda.

Originally from Solapur, Hangargekar has been living in Pune with his wife and two children. He worked at an IT firm in Pune. Although his residential and office addresses were both known to the police, his arrest was rather dramatic. Hangargekar, who had been to Chennai for a family function, was returning to Pune when the ATS’s multiple teams surrounded the Pune railway station, multiple checkpoints were created in and around the railway station, and Hangargekar was arrested. He has since been booked under several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and has been in the ATS’s custody.

‘Connection with terrorists internationally’

The ATS has claimed that they had been tracking Hangargekar’s activities for over a month and that he had been browsing through “terror-related literature” online. They claimed that they are now probing his “connection with terrorists internationally”, including one person from Pakistan.

On his arrest, the ATS raided his house and claimed to have seized over 31 books, his laptop, mobile phone, and a hard disk. 

Hangargekar’s lawyer, A.A. Sayyed says that the books that the police have claimed to have procured from his residence were all widely available online for anyone to purchase. 

“These are not banned books. The publishers and authors of these books are well known,” Sayyed tells The Wire.

The ATS didn’t stop with Hangargekar’s arrest. Since then, the ATS team has been calling Muslim youths from across Pune, Solapur and other parts of Maharashtra for questioning. These youths, mainly college-going, had attended a socio-religious event in Solapur. 

‘More than 60 youths called for questioning’

The event, organised by Wahdat-e-Islami, had held the three-day event at a school in Solapur, where youth students and professionals were given lessons in Artificial Intelligence, among other things.

The management of the school claim that they have since been harassed by the ATS and called for questioning repeatedly.

Hangargekar, who was known to the convenors of the organisation, had dropped by for a few minutes at the venue, the organisers tell The Wire. This visit, Elliyas Momin, associated with the organisation, says was unplanned and Hangargekar, who was visiting his hometown Solapur, had “only made a courtesy visit”.

Since Hangargekar’s arrest, the ATS have been summoning youths who attended the workshop. “More than 60 of them have been called already,” Momin tells The Wire.

Momin’s 18-year-old son, who recently completed his 12th exams, was also one of those questioned by the ATS. “The ATS asked me to send my minor son too to the police station. When I protested, they said they will come over to my residence and record his statement,” Momin adds.

But in Solapur, the ATS called another minor boy to the police station to record his statement. Some women, including a medical practitioner, were also called for questioning.

Most of these youths who have been questioned had attended such an event organised by Wahdat-e-Islami for the first time and didn’t directly know the organisers or Hangargekar. One of the attendees who was questioned by the ATS claimed that the police kept haranguing him for attending the workshop and insisted he give a statement against Hangargekar. 

“But I don’t know him and don’t remember him even attending the workshop,” the undergraduate student tells The Wire.

Many of these attendees were summoned to the ATS’s Pune office early in the morning and simply made to sit until the evening, only to be summoned again the next morning, many claimed. This, they feel, was done to threaten them and make them give statements against Hangargekar.

Hangargekar’s lawyer Sayyed recalls that similar raids and arrests have taken place in Pune several times in the past too. 

“In the past too, the police have picked up educated Muslim youth and branded them as terrorists. Whatever the outcome of the investigation, those men and the community get systematically criminalised,” Sayyed claims.

Kul-Jamaati Wifaq and several other Muslim groups have petitioned the ATS and the Director General of Maharashtra Police urging them to “stop terrorising” the community. 

“This psychological intimidation of innocent youth is creating a dangerous precedent and instilling fear among future generations, discouraging academic, social and personal development activities and distrust in institutions,” they write in their petition to the police.

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