Updated On: 05 July, 2023 07:03 AM IST | Padagha | Shirish Vaktania
...we are still profiled and are constantly under police scanner and often raided at the drop of a hat, say fed up villagers

The entrance to Padagha village. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
This twin village of 14,000 residents in Bhiwandi is back in the news with the recent arrest of two suspects who settled there just seven months ago. The villagers who are trying hard to get rid of the tag of ‘Village of Terrorists’ since the arrest of one of their locals, Saqib Nachan, in the Mumbai bomb blasts, are upset about how they are constantly under the scanner.
The villagers rue that since the arrest of Nachan for his alleged involvement in the bomb blasts in the past, it appears that Padagha is constantly being watched by the authorities. This time, it is an outsider who has spoilt their village’s image. On Monday afternoon, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Sharjeel Shaikh, 35, and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, 36, from Borivali at Padagha village in Thane on suspicion of being involved in the terror activities of ISIS.
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