Family members of Mohammed Ubaid Ur Rehman, the 23-year-old BCom student of Gulshan Iqbal Colony in the old city area, who was whisked away by the Karnataka Police on Thursday for allegedly hatching terror plots, have claimed that he was innocent.
Kausar Begum, mother of Rehman, a final year student of the Anwar-ulloom College in Mallepally, told reporters that her son was innocent and had no links with any terror outfit in Bangalore.
“Ubaid was coming home on his cycle. Police surrounded him and took him away,” said his brother-in-law, Gulam RabbanI. After waiting till night, the family members sent telegrams to the city police commissioner and other officials, to enquire about his whereabouts.
“It was only on Friday evening that Bangalore City Crime Branch Inspector Uday sent us text message and later called to tell that Rahman is under arrest,” Rabbani said.
Kausar, a widow, said: “My son is asthmatic and requires inhaler. I hope police will provide the medication.”
She added that the police did not tell her the charges against her son and the reason for his arrest. She alleged that her son was being implicated in a false case as the family was related to Moulana Naseeruddin, a cleric who was arrested by the Gujarat Police in connection with the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya. Moulana Naseeruddin spent six years in a Gujarat jail and was later acquitted.
Condemning Rehman’s arrest, Moulana said: “The police should have flashed a warrant for his arrest, instead of kidnapping the boy.”
Sources said the Karnataka Police had leads that Rehman had links with the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and HuJI. The Bangalore police, with help from the state counter intelligence, is also questioning a couple of other people in Hyderabad.
Published 01 September 2012, 08:52 IST