The Navi Mumbai police on Thursday said that the two school children did spot Pathani suit-clad men in Uran last week. However, police sources confirmed the men might not have been terrorists.
The Navi Mumbai police on Thursday said that the two school children did spot Pathani suit-clad men in Uran last week. However, police sources confirmed the men might not have been terrorists.
“When we questioned the boy, he confirmed he had seen one such person from the window of his house. However, as he was far away, he could not hear them. He did not even see all of them; only one of them,” the officer said. Senior state police officials said they were continuing to investigate the matter. “Our men are still working and will do so till we are completely sure about everything,-" said one of them.
A class X girl and class IX boy last week separately claimed that they had seen the Pathani-clad men in Uran which triggered a massive multi-agency search operation to nab them. However, only the girl subsequently told the police that she had heard the men's conversation and that they were carrying weapons. While the boy's testimony corroborated the girl's account of the alleged presence of these men, there was no corroboration for the girl's other claims, which could have been a figment of her imagination.
A police officer close to the investigation said, “We have been able to establish that the girl did not lie about seeing those men. But her claims of hearing them talk about attacking a school and ONGC could have been an exaggeration.” He added that her sightings of the men had been confirmed as the class IX boy had also seen them.
On September 22, a young girl studying in class X of Uran Education Society claimed that she saw five armed men dressed in pathani suits with their faces covered with black masks roaming around openly in Uran. She further said that she heard them speaking in Hindi and English and they were planning an “attack on a school and ONGC”. Following her claims, the state police and western naval command sounded a terror alert across Uran and Mumbai. The likes of NIA, ATS, Force One and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) too were deployed for added security.
But three days later when none of the men could be traced, the search operations were suspended. When asked if the girl was lying, Navi Mumbai police said that not all of her claims could be corroborated. “The girl said that she saw armed men and through all rounds of questioning by various agencies, she did not waver from her claim,” said a Navi Mumbai police officer. But he was quick to add that there was a possibility that the girl might have misunderstood what she saw.
The Navi Mumbai crime branch officials denied the girl was being sent for counseling. “We are sure she did not do it on purpose. We think she just misunderstood what she saw,” said an officer.
