Mekail Biswas, the 64-year-old father of Mehdi Biswas, who was arrested on Saturday in Bengaluru, is convinced of his son’s innocence and believes that either there has been a case of mistaken identity or Mehdi was framed.
“I am ready to fight a legal battle. I am convinced that my son is not guilty,” he said.
“He was a studious boy who never mixed with many people. Even in Bengaluru where he worked for ITC, he does not have many friends, and all we know about are a few colleagues in his workplace,” Mr Biswas told The Hindu at his home in Kailkhali, a suburb in the outskirts of Kolkata.
Mehdi, a graduate of electrical engineering, had gone to Bengaluru in 2012 after he was offered a job with ITC after a campus recruitment process.
“The last time I spoke to him was on Friday evening. He told me that his e-mail was hacked. Since then I have not been able to reach him on his phone,” said Mr Biswas, adding that neither the West Bengal nor the Bengaluru police have contacted him with regard to his son's arrest.
Mehdi’s mother Mamtaz Begum said her priority was to reach Bengaluru to see her son. Ms Mamtaz, who said she had been with him in Bengaluru till recently, said her son’s job consumed his entire day and he returned home only in the evening. Asked if he spent a lot of time on the laptop, she said he did, but added that she had only seen him watch his favourite cartoons.
Ms. Mamtaz said Mehdi had only three close friends in Bengaluru. “My husband and I were with him for many months in Bengaluru. My husband was undergoing treatment in the city,” she said.
