After Nagpur riot, spotlight on kingpin's mentor, once an 'anti-terrorism crusader'

NAGPUR: Mohammad Hamid Engineer, a former govt employee turned firebrand commentator, is back in the spotlight after his alleged role in mentoring key riot accused Fahim Khan. Security agencies, long familiar with Engineer's involvement in community affairs, have turned their attention to his social media activity following the Nagpur riots on the night of March 17.

Engineer, president of Minorities Democratic Party, was arrested on March 21 for allegedly inciting the riots and charged with sedition. A long-time figure in minority politics, he had allegedly flooded social media with inflammatory posts before the riots.
Engineer first gained attention over 15 years ago when his tabloid Iman Ki Awaz foreshadowed serial blasts in Gujarat and later in Jaipur. Copies of the publication were sent to top Gujarat police officers, with Engineer later claiming he had merely pointed out a growing factional dispute within his community that could lead to bloodshed over control of religious shrines.

Sources said his writings exposed the influence of a hard-line sect allegedly behind acts of violence. Some security officials saw value in Engineer's revelations, using him as an insider to highlight internal rifts within his community on a broader stage.

He crafted an image as an anti-terrorism crusader. But it didn't take long for him to switch from whistle-blower to wanted man. His entanglement in sectarian conflicts brought legal trouble.

In 2011, Engineer found himself in custody after mob violence erupted in Nagpur's Mominpura neighbourhood over the controversial burial of Baba Mustafa, a Sufi saint who died on June 28 that year. Engineer's alleged role in the unrest, linked to internal disputes, marked the beginning of a string of legal battles.

More recently, his association with Minorities Democratic Party, a group he helped establish, has raised questions. The party's city president Fahim was arrested after a video he allegedly circulated triggered riots in central and north Nagpur.

The violence erupted after demonstrations demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb from Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Decorated ex-cop and 2003 President's awardee Sambhaji Patil has been enlisted to strengthen 13 riot-related cases with his legal expertise.

A former vice principal of a Maharashtra police training school, Patil is now a HC lawyer. Known for his sharp investigative skills, he is guiding Nagpur police, who are struggling with legal complexities in cases involving over 1,200 accused.