Shahid Bilal: Wanted alive or already dead?

Is Shahid Bilal dead or alive? Confusion prevails over whether India's most-wanted terrorist is still out there. Pakistan claims the Harkat-ul-Jihadi operative had been killed in a police encounter, but the Indian Intelligence says he is very much alive.

Even as the confusion looms large, Shahid's father and several others in Hyderabad believe that Bilal is dead after being shot down in an encounter in Pakistan. Today, Bilal's 16-11-240 residence in Hyderabad's Moosrambagh locality wears a deserted look.

His 70-year-old father, Mohammad Abdul Wahid, prefers to stay indoors. Apart from the nation branding his son a terrorist, he has more worries. His other son, Zahed, is under arrest for his alleged role in the Hyderabad blasts.

Although there are claims that Bilal is still alive and that news of his death is a means to distract Indian investigating agencies, Wahid says that his son is dead. A website had released pictures of the dead body and on seeing this, the father says, that the body was that of his son.

Several residents of Moosrambagh and the surrounding Saedabad area, who did not want to be quoted for obvious reasons, point out that as long as Bilal resided in the area, there was never a problem.

He neither had any inclination of joining terror groups nor did he cause any sort of communal disturbance in Hyderabad, they say. They justify their claim by stating that he was very tolerant towards other religions and that there is a temple right in front of his house and there have been no complaints of Bilal's intolerance.

Until recently, Bilal's father claimed that his son was in the custody of the Hyderabad police. The Hyderabad police, however, deny this outright. On affidavit, they swear that he is still on the run. The affidavit states that Bilal resides in Saudi Arabia and keeps frequenting both Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The police say that he left Hyderabad to evade arrest after he had been pinned down as the mastermind in the task force office bomb blast case on October 12 2005.

The

residents of Moosrambagh, however, say that Bilal was a victim of political conspiracy and it was the politicians who ensured that he was chased outside the country.

"He was a political worker for a prominent party in Andhra Pradesh. As long as Bilal was around he used to ensure that work was done. However, there was major fallout between Bilal and the party. The party wanted him out of Hyderabad and hence tried fixing him in several false cases. He had no option but to flee Hyderabad to evade arrest," said a man, who claimed to know Bilal.

Bilal, at present, is wanted in five cases in Andhra Pradesh. The police say he first sprung into limelight after the task force office bomb blast case in 2005, which falls under the Panjagutta police station limits. Prior to this he was convicted under Sections 332 and 334 of the Indian Penal Code and was asked to pay a fine of Rs 1000.

A case against Bilal has been filed under Sections 120 (b) and 125 of the Indian Penal Code for his alleged role in the Mecca Masjid blast case. A case is yet to be registered against him in the twin blasts case, although police swear that he is the mastermind in this case too.

Sadly for the residents of Saedabad and Moosrambagh, the fact that Bilal used to hail from this area has done more harm than good. The Hyderabad police term these two areas as a hub of Pakistani intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence. Walking in this area after 7 pm, one can make out that there is not much activity going on there -- it is deserted.

Jameel, a resident of the area, says: "There is nothing to be scared really. It is only a hype that is being created. Hindus and Muslims live in peace here. But sadly people stay away from this place. The land prices in this area too have dropped after it was termed as an ISI hub."