Infiltration & Internal Security Watch

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This story is from October 28, 2012

Danger for desis in diamond land​

Melvyn Thomas / TNN / Updated: Oct 28, 2012, 06:08 IST
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Families of Gujarati businessmen in Antwerp are the new targets of gangsters seeking a quick bounty. If this continues, say traders, they may have to shift to Dubai.

Families of Gujarati businessmen in Antwerp are the new targets of gangsters seeking a quick bounty. If this continues, say traders, they may have to shift to Dubai.
They control up to 80 per cent of Antwerp’s $45 billion annual diamond trade. But the dominance of Gujarati businessmen in Antwerp, the world's biggest diamond trading hub, seems to have put them under the spotlight of international crime syndicates .
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Two sensational heists, targeting Gujarati businessmen from leading companies , have put a question mark on the security of the diamond traders and their families.
The latest incident was on October 12, when gangsters — who were speaking to each other in Italian — targeted the wife of Prashant Bhalani, a sales manager of Kiran Gems Private Limited. The armed gang members threatened to shoot Bhalani’s wife if he did not deliver diamonds to them at his home. They left after Bhalani handed over stones worth Rs 150 crore.
Almost two years back, on March 5, 2010, Pankaj Maldar, who heads Indian firm KARP Impex’s Antwerp office, was held hostage for 18 hours with his wife and children in his home in Wilrijk outside Antwerp by three men, again speaking Italian. Maldar was forced to go to his office and bring the polished diamond stock, while the gang stood guard over his family. They left only after getting diamonds worth Rs 50 crore.


Many Gujarati diamond businessmen in Antwerp say they have become extra cautious after these heists. They already have CCTV at home but are now planning to employ armed guards.
“Hoveniersstraat, or Gardener’s Street, is the backbone of the diamond market, where four-fifths of the world’s uncut diamonds are traded. The area, which houses the diamond offices, is under high security and we are safe there. But we are helpless when gangsters target our family members and ask us to bring the stock from our safe vaults,” says Jitu Bagadia, leader of the Gujarati Samaj in Antwerp and a diamond trader who lives in the city with his wife and daughter.

Most Gujaratis have their homes in areas like Belgelei, Van Eycklei, Quintan Matseslie , Edegem and Wilrijk. Barring one or two areas, most are a half hour drive away from the main diamond centre . Following the 2010 heist, the leaders of Antwerp's diamond industry had discussed security of the Indian community with the police and governor and it was decided to increase patrols in the diamond district and in neighbourhoods like Wilrijk where Maldar’s family was targeted.
But the Indian diamond community says that much more needs to be done.“Despite increased security, criminals are successfully targeting the businessmen and their families. It seems Gujaratis are on their hit-list ,” says Dinesh Navadia, president of Surat Diamond Association (SDA), who is planning to take the issue to the Belgian ambassador and consul general in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Sanjay Mehta, a diamond trader in Antwerp adds, “It’s a frightening thing to see your wife and children facing a gangster’s gun in your own house. The only saving grace is that until now, they have not killed anyone.”
But the community is in no mood to let matters deteriorate further, even indicating that they might shift base if such incidents continue. “We have started building pressure on the Belgian authorities through our contacts in India,” says an Antwerp-based diamond trader. “We want more security for our families. The areas where the Gujarati diamantaires have their homes should be provided better police patrolling and additional deployment of armed guards. One more heist and we will seriously consider shifting base to Dubai.”
Trade tremors
There are 400 Gujarati families living in Belgium, most of them connected to the diamond trade
The Antwerp diamond centre is contained in a two square mile area, which houses 1,850 companies, about 70 per cent of which are owned by Gujaratis
Almost 25 years ago, Antwerp had more than 30,000 cutters and polishers. But now, their number has decreased to only about 1,000 as most of the manufacturing has moved to Surat
Antwerp’s diamond industry was earlier controlled by Jews. But the tide started to turn about two decades ago when the Gujaratis started beating the Jews
Many Jews are worried about the new competitive pressure and now prefer to meet clients in the privacy of their offices for fear that Indians will poach their remaining business

 

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Mumbai attacks city fears five terrorists are ‘missing’​

Rhys Blakely
in Mumbai
Tuesday December 02 2008, 12.00am GMT, The Times
At least five terrorist gunmen might have escaped the carnage in Mumbai and could strike again, it emerged yesterday as a video surfaced showing the capture of the gang’s sole known surviving member.

The prospect of more killers added to public anger at the Indian Government’s lax handling of the worst terror strike to hit the country in 15 years.

The security forces claimed that only ten militants – nine of whom were killed and one caught alive – were behind the coordinated attacks that claimed nearly 200 lives. Rakesh Maria, a joint commissioner of police, said: “Their plan was just to cause maximum damage and return with hostages protecting themselves.”

However, a hijacked Indian fishing boat used by the gunmen had equipment for 15 men on board when it was discovered adrift – suggesting that several gunmen could still be at large.

“Fifteen winter jackets were found, fifteen toothbrushes,” a police source said. “That more terrorists are loose is possible.”
Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only gunman to be caught alive, said during police questioning that 24 men were trained in camps in Pakistan for the mission, according to a leaked account of his police interrogation.

He has since claimed, apparently, that only ten made the final trip to Mumbai, including him. Police are continuing to question the 21-year-old, who has said that he and his accomplices planned to kill 5,000 people.

Security experts say that a force of ten heavily armed men could carry out an operation on the scale of the Mumbai strike only if they received extensive training and local support.

Investigators believe that at least five or six additional people were immediately involved in preparing for the attacks by organising logistics and carrying out reconnaissance.

Grainy mobile phone footage broadcast yesterday by Sky Television sheds little light on the militants’ methods, but it documents the capture of the “baby-faced gunman”.

shows Kasab’s last stand: a small crowd is seen shouting and beating a man lying on the ground in a Mumbai street as police officers, blowing whistles and waving long sticks, try to restore order.

Police say that Kasab arrived with the other militants in two dinghies that moored on the seafront by the Gateway of India, near the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. The militants then commandeered several cars and set off towards ten different sites across the city.

Kasab and one other gunman, Abu Ismail, headed straight for Chhat-rapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s main railway station, where they opened fire with AK47s, killing dozens. It was there that he was photographed, holding his AK47 in one hand, in an image that has been seen around the world.

“They were right there,” recalled Sebastian D’Souza, the man who took the photograph, pointing to the spot on the platform where he first saw the gunmen. “They never raised their guns, they were very cool. They just kept firing from their hips,” he told Sky News.

“I saw lots of people shot dead, just lying there, nobody caring for them,” he said. “If somebody had engaged them in some crossfire . . . ” But no one did, so Kasab and his accomplice moved on to Cama hospital, according to Mumbai police.
There he and Abu Ismail shot dead three of India’s top police officers who were rushing to the scene in a vehicle. The terrorists continued on their shooting spree, firing shots in the air at the Metro Cinema until their vehicle suffered a puncture.

Kasab and Abu Ismail then stole a golden Skoda Laura and were driving it towards Chowpatty beach, a popular evening destination for families in south Mumbai, when they were intercepted by a police team.

Abu Ismail was killed in the shoot-out, while Kasab was shot in his hand, according to police. It was then that he was attacked by the mob as shown in the mobile phone footage.

Initially he pretended to be dead, and was being taken to hospital when a police officer realised that he was breathing, according to Indian media reports. They said that when he reached hospital he told staff there: “I don’t want to die.” Later, after a police interrogation, he reportedly said: “Now I don’t want to live.”