Families of bomb suspects claim they are innocent

Shock and anxiety gripped the family members of two doctors from Bangalore Mohammed Haneef and Sabeel Ahmed, who had been detained as suspects in the failed terror attack near Glasgow International airport in UK last week.

Claiming that the doctors were innocent, the family members of Mohammed Haneef, 27, and Sabeel Ahmed, 26, expressed confidence that they would be let off after questioning.

According to information available here, Mohammed Haneef and Sabeel Ahmed are reported to be distantly related to each other and had passed from Ambedkar Medical College in Bangalore before going to UK in pursuit of their medical careers.

Mohammed Haneef’s mother Khurath Ul Ain told reporters at her apartment in Frazer Town in Bangalore that her son was returning to India to see his new-born daughter. “I pray Allah that he returns safely”, the anxious mother said before accusing the authorities of arresting her son “just because he is a Muslim”.

Mohammed Haneef’s sister Sumayya said her brother was the sole bread-winner of the family after they lost her father in a road accident ten years ago. The family originally hailed from Mudigere in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur district. “He is a very studious and academically inclined person. He secured the MBBS seat on merit”, she said.

Expressing concern over her husband’s safety, Mohammed Haneef’s wife Firdous said the family was trying to establish contact with him through the Indian High Commission in Australia. “We are requesting the Indian High Commission to intervene in the matter and provide him consular access. He is all alone there”, she said.

Similiarly, Zakia Ahmed, mother of the other suspect Sabeel Ahmed, said her son was innocent. “He has only been detained for questioning. I am sure he will return safely”, she said at her residence at Banashankari in Bangalore. “We are in touch with his friends there and they have assured us that all will be well soon”, she said.

Referring to the allegations of his Islamic fundamentalism levelled against him, Zakia Ahmed snapped back “Who is not a fundamentalist. You are fundamentalist about your religion. I am fundamentalist about my religion”.

Meanwhile, Registrar of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Sachchidananda said Sabeel Ahmed and Mohammed Haneef had passed out of Ambedkar College in Bangalore during 2003 and 2002 respectively.

Though Mohammed Haneef, who had a brilliant academic record, passed out with good marks, Sabeel had taken six years to pass the four-and-a half-year-long MBBS course, Sachchidananda told reporters.

Principal of Ambedkar Medical College Ramesh remembers Mohammed Haneef as a “very quite and sensitive” boy. “He was conversant in both English and Kannada, and used to help others. It is hard to imagine him as part of any terrorist plot”, he added.

However, police in Bangalore said they have not received any communication about the investigation into the failed terror attack in UK having links with Bangalore. Senior police officers in Bangalore said they had not received information about the detention of doctors from Bangalore from either Australia or UK.