Wrong man put on CBI’s wanted list

For the past few days, Nath has been trying to explain to friends, family and relatives that he did not bomb Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid in May, report Kapil Datta and Tushar Srivastava.

Something as innocuous as your photograph can land you in trouble. Ask Dr Tarak Nath, yoga teacher at the Noida College of Physical Education. For the past few days, Nath has been trying to explain to friends, family and relatives that he did not bomb Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid in May.

HT Image

On Friday, newspapers and TV channels started flashing Nath’s picture — CBI had announced a Rs 2-lakh reward for information on him. It said Nath was a suspect in the May 18 blast at the Masjid.

What appears to have happened is this: the terrorists behind the blast used Nath’s photograph to prepare a forged driving licence. They then used the licence to buy SIM cards. An application attached along with Nath’s photograph gave his name as Babu Lal Yadav.

The CBI tracked down the shop from where the SIM cards were purchased. And Nath became a suspect, explained a CBI official.

Nath told HT, “I was told my photograph had appeared in newspapers and I was a suspect in the Hyderabad blast. I am tired of explaining to people that I am law-abiding citizen.”

No one seems to be sure how the bombers got hold of Nath’s picture. But Nath, who sometimes writes for magazines, guesses they got it from a Hindi newsmagazine which published an article by him in September 2005. A CBI investigating officer said, “We have to find out how the terrorists get hold of Nath’s photograph. (But) he is just a suspect and nothing more as his photograph had been used to buy the SIM cards.”

But Nath hasn’t been cleared completely yet. He has been told to report to the CBI office on Monday.