Criminals on the run have found safe haven in Goa (ToI)

Criminals on the run have found safe haven in Goa Keshav Naik, TNN | Sep 18, 2013, 03.31 AM IST MAPUSA: Known as a tourist hotspot and for its tranquility, Goa now risks becoming a safe haven for terrorists and criminals. Since October 2009 three most-wanted criminals have been arrested in Goa, which offers those on the run a hideout away from the prying police presence of the metros and the invisibility of being among thousands of global visitors. The links of Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal with Goa shocked the peaceful state and gave reason to recall other links of other criminals with Goa. In October 2009, one of Britain's most wanted fugitives, Ajay Kaushal, 50, was arrested by Goa police in Panaji after his British friend was found dead in a hotel room. Kaushal had been on the run since 2005 when he was due to be tried for kidnapping a businessman and securing a 1,00,000 pound ransom. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail. In July 2010 a key shooter of the Chhota Rajan gang was arrested by Mumbai police at Arambol in north Goa. Gangster Umaid-ur-Rahman had been staying with his wife, parents and an aide in two rooms of a building that was under construction a mere two minutes walking distance from Pernem police outpost for 57 days and Goa police knew nothing of his presence till the news made the headlines the next day. In August 2012 terror suspect Afzal Khan was arrested by Verna police. Khan, 32, a native of Uttar Pradesh was residing at Mapusa in rented premises for about a month-and-a-half, meters away from the residence of chief minister Manohar Parrikar and again at walking distance from Mapusa police station. He was arrested on suspicion of having terror links and has been charged for an offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Lashkar terrorist David Headley also allegedly stayed in Goa for a couple of weeks exploring the possibility of carrying out a terror strike in the tourist destination. Goa's brush with terror came in October 2009, when a bomb went off in Margao on Diwali eve near Grace Church, a few metres from where a Narkasur effigy competition was being held. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Criminals-on-the-run-have-found-safe-haven-in-Goa/articleshow/22673345.cms