IndiaPost.com - Police questions Sabeel's family

BANGALORE: A police team led by a senior official questioned the family of Sabeel Ahmed, one of the three Indian doctors detained in connection with the failed terror plot in Britain.

The team led by Ravikante Gowda, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), came to the residence of Sabeel's parents at Banashankari around noon and resumed questioning after their similar exercise. Police sources said the Central Intelligence Bureau officials and a woman police official were also with the team.

Zakia Ahmed, mother of Sabeel and her husband Maqbool Ahmed are both retired professors of Bangalore Medical College. They are not sure whether the man who drove the burning jeep in Glasgow airport was their other son Khafeel and are unclear about his involvement in any fundamentalist group, a top police official said.

Sabeel's parents said that they had a son named Khafeel, who had left for UK, but were unclear about his activities overseas or his involvement in any fundamentalist group, Police Commissioner, N Achutha Rao, told PTI. They were also unable to confirm whether the driver of the burning vehicle was indeed their son Khafeel, Rao said. However, the questioning had revealed that Khafeel had spoken to them "some time back", he added.

He said the line of interrogation largely focused on the background of the family, the education of their sons and their various activities. To a question whether the police were probing the involvement of the suspects in any local religious network, or outfits like the SIMI, he said the interrogations had included all these aspects.

"We are probing all the possible angles in the case". Meanwhile Sabeel's parents also stated that they were touched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's concern over the agony the mothers of the detained persons were undergoing.

"We appreciate the Prime Minister's reaction to our pain. It only shows how sensitive he is to the concerns of the people," Haneef's father-in-law Ashwaq Ahmed told PTI. "It is a reflection of a sensitive individual speaking," he said, while reacting to the prime minister's emotional statement that he had not been able to sleep after seeing the pain of the mothers of the detained persons.

Prime Minister had said that he was perturbed by the trauma expressed by Haneef's family and has virtually been sleepless after seeing his mother airing her pain. He said the family also appreciated and supported the Prime Minister's statement about avoiding labelling any nationalities as terrorists.

"We fully appreciate and support his statement on the issue," Ashwaq said. Maintaining that his son-in-law is innocent, he said that he wanted to appeal to the Prime Minister through the media to ensure the safe return of Haneef. "He is innocent and now we are convinced that the truth alone can help us," he said.