The following news item appeared in rediff.comon Dec 20, 2001. A similar story later appeared in the Times of India, Thaneplus,on Dec 26, 2001.
"Thane police claim to have arrested Hamza earlier
Jake Khan in Mumbai
The Thane police on Wednesday claimed that it had arrested Mohammed YasinFateh Mohammed alias Abu Hamza, one of terrorists killed in the suicide attackon Parliament on December 13, last year.
Thane police commissioner S M Shangari said that Hamza was one of the fourLashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists nabbed by his men last year.
He said that Hamza was nabbed following a tip off from the IntelligenceBureau.
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Hamza, then 24, along with three of his associates, was arrested from anapartment in predominantly Muslim locality of Mumbra on November 23, 2000, andafter interrogation, he was handed him over to the J&K police on December 8,2000, the commissioner said.
Police officials said that Hamza was a hardcore terrorist, well-versed inmartial warfare, who at the time of being arrested even engaged in physicalcombat with crime branch officer, Datta Ghule.
Officials, who had gone to arrest Hamza, still remember the spectacularflying kick that Hamza delivered to Ghule and jumped out of the window of hisflat, in a bid to escape arrest.
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Hamza would have certainly escaped had it not been for the security cordonthat the police had thrown before attempting to make the arrest.
Despite sustaining injuries on his head and multiple fractures in his armsand legs Hamza put up a stiff resistance, the officers said.
It was only during interrogations that the police realised that they hadnetted a prize catch.
In his statement to the Thane police, Hamza, a resident of Taluka Samundariin Faislabad district of Pakistan, revealed that he was trained in a camp inPakistan occupied Kashmir, and was actively involved in terrorist operation inthe valley since 1995.
Besides Hamza, the other three who were arrested were Abu Saifullah (25),Shakeel alias Abu Abdullah (23) and Mohammed Ghulam alias Abu Maaz (24).
During the arrest, the Thane police had recovered a cache of arms andammunition including AK 47 assault rifles with 49 cartridges and three grenadesfrom the flat.
According to the Thane police, Hamza, who had sneaked into the state throughGujarat via the rail route and had taken shelter in Thane, was planning toattack VIPs and to sabotage vital installations like Hindustan Petroleum, BombayHigh and the Naval dockyard.
