The Hindu : National : Rashid Hussain, Sajid let off

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Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008
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National

Rashid Hussain, Sajid let off

Mohammed Iqbal

Rashid Hussain

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan police have let off electronics engineer Rashid Hussain and the former SIMI leader Mohammed Sajid, who were picked up in connection with the May 13 serial blasts in Jaipur. But they have filed the charge of possession of fake passports against madrasa teacher Mohammed Ilyas while formally arresting him after his week-long detention.

While Mr. Hussain, 35, employed with an IT major here, was incarcerated for nine days, Mr. Sajid, 42, was in custody for 20 days.

Muslim groups have termed their detention illegal and demanded the immediate release of other “terror suspects.” It is alleged that the Special Investigation Team released Mr. Hussain on Monday night with instructions “not to disclose anything” about his interrogation to anyone. It handed over Mr. Sajid to Moin Ahmed, sarpanch of his village Udai Kalan in Sawai Madhopur district, on Sunday evening. Mr. Sajid was the SIMI State president for a couple of years before it was banned in 2001.

The probe into the antecedents of Mr. Ilyas, manager of the Jamia Darul Uloom Madrasa in Bharatpur, was transferred to the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Crime Branch, which arrested him on charges of possessing fake passports and having wealth disproportionate to the known sources of his income. The SOG on Monday obtained remand for him till June 17.

The Rajasthan Muslim Forum, which organised here on Tuesday a legal awareness camp for the relatives of the detainees and those put under the scanner, alleged that the SIT was harassing Maulvis, Imams and madrasa teachers, while completely ruling out the possibility of the involvement of extremist outfits of other religions and foreign intelligence agencies.

Mr. Hussain, specially invited to the camp, told The Hindu that the SIT investigators grilled him continuously for nine days while trying to prove that he had extensive contacts with the SIMI functionaries and had prior knowledge of the blasts.

The electronics engineer, who graduated from Bangalore, said he knew some SIMI members in that city before the organisation was banned, but was no longer in touch with them. “As an IT professional, I meet a number of persons daily. It is practically impossible to know about the background of each of them.”

The engineer said he was released only after a senior police officer from Bangalore interrogated him. His employers asked him to wait for a week before resuming work.

A number of Imams and Maulvis, addressing the gathering, complained of police harassment. Jamat-e-Islami Hind member Haroon Rashid, the Muezzin in Bagrana Basti mosque Iftekhar Ahmed and Students Islamic Organisation member Mohammed Azam, who were questioned recently, said the investigating agencies seemed to have the “sole agenda” of proving the case against Muslims.

Gandhian leader S.N. Subbarao, People’s Union for Civil Liberties State president Prem Krishna Sharma, Rajasthan Sadbhav Manch convener Sawai Singh, legal expert A.K. Jain and CPI(M) leader Waqar-ul-Ahad spoke.

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