No terror tip-off to Mumbai Police: Goa police

PANAJI - Goa Police Thursday denied it had relayed any information about two suspected Harkat-ul Jihadi al-Islami (HuJI) terrorists landing in Mumbai to the Mumbai Police, even as TV channels kept on flashing the “tip-off”.

Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) Atmaram Deshpande said that neither had he spoken to a Mumbai tabloid which first ran the story about two Harkat-ul Jihadi al-Islami terror suspects boarding a Mumbai-bound train, nor has any formal communication been made with the Mumbai Police about any specific terror tip-off.

“There has been no information given by us to the Mumbai Police relating to terrorism, said Deshpande, who is also the official spokesperson of the state police.

“We received an anonymous call at the control room that two suspicious looking people were overheard here, stating that they will meet in Mumbai after carrying out a job. The information was promptly sent to Mumbai through the police control room, the officer said, denying relay of any specific information on HUJI or terrorists.

“The caller said that the suspicious looking persons were planning to meet at Dadar. That is all. The call was traced to a supermarket in Porvorim (a satellite township near Panaji), but we could not trace the caller,” he said.

I was told a Mumbai-based tabloid is quoting me. But I want to clarify that I have not spoken to any reporter. I am misquoted, said Deshpande.

Earlier in the day, the media was in a tizzy after a TV news channels picked up a story from the tabloid about a letter written by the Goa police to their Mumbai counterparts that two HuJI terrorists, Kalimuddin Khan alias Rameshwar Pandit and Hafij Sarif, were spotted boarding a Mumbai-bound train Tuesday night to meet a contact at platform four at Dadar station.

–Indo Asian News Service