By Omar Rashid
The families of a rickshaw-driver and a battery seller, among those arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police from Lucknow on charges of plotting terror attacks in the State, are in a state of disbelief. They contend that the allegations levelled against the men are baseless.
On July 11, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Minhaz Ahmad, 31, and Maseeruddin on charges that they were allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Lucknow ahead of Independence Day.
The ATS claimed to have recovered a large quantity of explosive items (IEDs) from the two men. The police also claimed they found a pistol on Minhaz during the search.
Siraj Ahmed, a retired employee of the Economics and Statistics department, pleads his son Minhaz is innocent.
“I totally refute it. I can never believe it,” Mr. Siraj Ahmed told The Hindu. He described his son as “kind-hearted, soft-spoken and merciful towards humanity.”
Mr. Siraj Ahmed claimed that the ATS team which raided their house did not tell the family what they recovered during the operation. “They neither showed us what they recovered nor told us about it or presented us any list of items,” he said, adding that the police packed the things in large suitcases and bags.
Minhaz, who has a diploma in electricals, jointly operated a battery shop. One of the e-rickshaw drivers who engaged with him was Maseeruddin.
Pressure cooker
On Sunday, Maseeruddin’s family had just completed a late breakfast when an ATS team came to his house and arrested him. His wife Sayeeda claims that the ATS took away with them a new pressure cooker she had purchased. The equipment was unused as Sayeeda hoped to store it for her eldest daughter’s future.
“He [Maseeruddin] didn’t even know about the cooker. He had nothing to do with domestic purchases and stayed out driving rickshaw till 9 p.m. Along with the cooker, I had also bought a cooking gas and an electric iron,” she said.
Ms. Sayeeda, who has four children, says she never heard anything unusual from her husband or the name of any outfit as alleged by the ATS.
Mr. Siraj Ahmed said that since Maseeruddin was not in a sound financial condition, his son Minhaz would often help him with money and battery for his rickshaw. Before driving an e-rickshaw, Maseeruddin worked as a labourer in the Zardozi craft sector like many others in lanes of old Lucknow.
3 others held
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said that on the basis of information acquired from the two during the police custody remand, three others were arrested. They were identified as Shakeel (35), Mohammad Mustaqeem (44) and Mohammad Moeed (29).
Shakeel is named as an accused in the FIR and had a role in providing the weapons and helping Minhaz in purchasing the weapons, alleged Mr. Kumar. Shakeel also drives a rickshaw, said a local activist.
Local module
The ATS claimed that the men were working for a local module of the al-Qaeda terror outfit. The ATS said it worked on tips that the al-Qaeda had sent its member Umar Halmandi to India to operate its activities. Halmandi operated from Pakistan-Afghanistan border, police said.
Halmandi was recruiting people to AQIS (Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent) group and radicalising them, said the ATS, adding that after identifying some people he established a Lucknow module of the al-Qaeda, Ansar Gazwatul Hind.
Mr. Siraj Ahmed says he never heard of any such name. “They are trying to snatch our crutches during old age,” he said, whose only son is Minhaz.
The FIR lodged against the accused persons includes several clauses of the UAPA (13, 18, 18 b, 20 and 39), waging war against the government, collecting arms and concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war. They were also booked under the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act.
This story first appeared on thehindu.com