Bengaluru, Jan 11: The family members of the three Bhatkal youth arrested by the Crime Branch (CCB) police on terror charges earlier this week have asserted that all three were innocents and demanded a fair and open investigation in the case.
Speaking to media persons here, they accused the police of targeting their kith and kin merely because they hail from Bhatkal and that one of the accused has married a Pakistani national.
Syed Abdul Aleem (73) and Noorunissa (63), the parents of Syed Ismail Afaq, a homoeopathy doctor, said their daughter-in-law, a Pakistani national, has valid documents. œMy son married a Pakistani national in the year 2005. We have many relatives in Pakistan and the Gulf countries. Just because we speak to our relatives in Pakistan over phone, our children should not be labeled terrorists.
œA few plainclothesmen had come to our Cox Town house on Thursday and did not find any incriminating material. Those policemen in fact called their seniors and on the orders from the person on the other side, they seized laptops, mobile phones and chargers which can be found in every house, Afaq's father Abdul Aleem said.
Another accused Saddam Hussein's father Fairoz Khan said his son had gone to Bhatkal bus stand to hand over a parcel of wedding cards when policemen in plain clothes picked him up.
The cops later raided the house but got nothing. Akmal Rizvi, advocate appearing for the terror suspects, said the police have not followed formalities while making arrests.
œSaddam was busy distributing cards of his sister's wedding. He had gone to the bus stand to send some cards to Shivamogga when police arrested him. He has been tortured by the police on Thursday and it was brought to the judge's notice.
œThe judge has asked the police to get the medical report. The police have not conducted mahajar procedure in a fair manner. Local residents were not allowed anywhere around Subur's house. They could have asked the local residents to be the witnesses during the mahajar when they claim that huge cache of explosive substances were seized. We will get all documents submitted by the police by Monday and decide future course of action, Rizvi said.
The third accused MBA student Abdus Suboor's father Mohammed Hussein said their house was locked for the last two months and the police broke open the door without informing anyone.
œMy wife's brother was admitted in a hospital in Kerala due to kidney ailment. We had gone to Kerala on January 7 and got the message from Bhatkal saying that police have forced open the house. We came back immediately only to know that our son has been arrested on charges of terrorism, he said.
Ms Noorunissa further said that Afaq and Abdul Azeez, along with their cousin (Ms. Noorunissa's sister's son) Abdus Suboor, had gone to Jayanagar on Thursday morning for a health camp as Afaq was a homeopathic doctor. Suboor had come to Bengaluru on Thursday for his project work, added Ms. Noorunissa.
They said they found out only when the news broke that three suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives had been arrested by the police in Bengaluru and Bhatkal.
œWe did not have any clue about what happened to Azeez as all their phones were switched off. When we approached the Pulakeshinagar police to lodge a missing complaint, the police refused to entertain the complaint and sent us back, they said.
Afaq's brother Abdul Azeez was also picked up by the police on Thursday, but was let off on Friday night around 11 pm, after he was made to sign an arrest intimation in respect of Afaq and Sabroor, they said.
Police Claim
On the other hand the city police, who arrested the trio, said that they are now ascertaining the source of explosives and to whom the explosives were delivered to. Syed Ismail Afaq, the main suspect, had visited Pakistan a couple of times in the recent past, the police said.
They added that his wife was a Pakistani national. œIt has to be confirmed whether the visits to Pakistan were personal or related to IM activities, they said. Sources said that they were yet to ascertain whether he had supplied explosives to various modules.
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