Breeding grounds? Suspects lived or worked here

A neighbour who lived in Israel Mohalla since 1972 until he shifted to Mira Road says Tauqeer used to step out of the house twice daily, once at 7 am to go to Antonio D8217;Souza School in Byculla and then at 3 pm to visit Khwaja Sunni Masjid in the adjoining lane. 8220;He was a loner since childhood. His brother used to at least join us in our cricket games, but Subhan never did,8221; says the man, refusing to divulge his name.

Like him, 40-odd families in Chaiwala building refuse to give their names.

8220;Most of the residents here are recent tenants who moved in a few months back. No one here knows about the Qureshi family,8221; says a woman in her early twenties who stays in a house right next to Room Number 14 where Tauqeer grew up.

Though there are voices from inside, the door of Room 14 remains shut despite repeated knocks.

Another resident on the same floor says: 8220;We moved in a couple of months ago. We do not know anything about the Qureshi family. We learnt about them in papers and news channels, but we have no idea about them,8221; she claims.

A local shopkeeper points out a nearby building where Rehman Qureshi, the paternal uncle of Tauqeer lives. At the third floor residence, the door is partially opened by a woman in her late forties, who says she is Rehman8217;s wife. 8220;He has gone out and will return late at night,8221; she says. Asked about Rehman8217;s connection to the Qureshi family, she says angrily, 8220;I do not know any Qureshi family. We have no idea.8221;

At the Antonio D8217;Souza School, Vice-Principal Ashok Joshi can8217;t recollect anything about the boy. 8220;He passed out in 1988 and was part of our school for a good 10 years, but it is difficult to recount any incident,8221; he said.

After his schooling, Tauqeer completed his diploma in Industrial Electronics Polytechnic from Bharati Vidyapeeth College in Belpada, Kharghar. Vice-Principal Prof P N Tandon, who also failed to remember his face, said: 8220;He seems to have been an average student. He is one of the only ones to have left without a certificate.8221;

CHEETAH CAMP: At Sadiq8217;s house, fear as younger brother is taken away for questioning

Aiswarya A

MOHAMMED Sadiq Sheikh8217;s family was still reeling from the shock of his arrest when Crime Branch officials came knocking at their door, this time to take away the youngest son Tahir.

8220;At around 2.30 am there was loud knocking. Fearing something had happened to Sadiq, we rushed to open it. However, we found Crime Branch officials who demanded to see Tahir. They said they knew Tahir had also studied computer hardware like Sadiq and hence wanted to take him to investigate whether he had any role in the planning,8221; said a worried Mohammad Asad, Sadiq8217;s elder brother.

8220;We pleaded that he be taken away the next morning but they wouldn8217;t budge. The officials told us to be present at the Crime Branch office at N M Joshi Marg by 11 am and only then would I know what they intended doing with my brothers,8221; said Asad.

While Asad, his father Israr Ahmed and a few others from the neighbourhood had gone to meet the police, the women of the household including Sadiq8217;s mother Aasia and her daughters-in-law locked themselves inside, refusing to speak in the absence of the males of the house.

Vasanti, a neighbour, said: 8220;They are tired of being questioned about Sadiq8217;s 8216;criminal antecedents8217; and want to be left alone. Sadiq8217;s mother has suffered two heart attacks and now with two sons taken away by the police, she is under huge tension. Who will be responsible if she gets another attack, thanks to all these accusations by the police?8221;

The neighbours also criticised the police8217;s pattern of suspecting the brothers because they possessed computer hardware qualifications. 8220;Earlier, Sadiq had enrolled into a course in computer hardware and got a job. Tahir used to do zari work like most people of this neighbourhood and had enrolled into the hardware course recently. He had not even completed it. It seems anyone who is Muslim, knows computers and is poor will be on the police radar,8221; said Salma bi, another neighbour. Though Tahir was questioned for several hours, he was not arrested.

Two lanes away stood the house where another blast suspect Sheikh Mohammed Ansar had spent his childhood.

8220;I considered Ansar8217;s father my brother as we were from the same village in Andhra Pradesh and lived in adjoining houses at Cheetah Camp for over two decades. A few years back the family decided to return to their native village, but Ansar, his wife and kids stayed back,8221; said Ashrafunnisa Sheikh.

Ansar had taken a kholi room on rent at Cheetah Camp itself, but several lanes away from where he had lived with his joint family. Sixty-five year-old Anora Ahmed had let out her two-room house to Ansar, but neither did she know his name nor his background. 8220;Ansar has not returned home for a week. His wife came to me saying she was worried about him. She said her father-in-law had told her to return to their village and she left. We haven8217;t heard from her since,8221; she said.

BHIWANDI: Scrap dealer Zakir is an MA in psychology

Prashant Rangnekar

MOHAMMED Zakir Sheikh 28, one of the members of the terror module of the Indian Mujahideen IM who allegedly planted bombs in Surat, has a master8217;s degree in psychology. But he chose to be a scrap dealer. Arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Tuesday night, Sheikh is a native of Azamgarh though his family, which deals in scrap, lived in the Ahmed Colony area of Surat for many years before moving to Bhiwandi.

Zakir himself came to Bhiwandi only about seven months back, but was never unfamiliar with the powerloom town 60 km north of Mumbai.

8220;His brother Shahid came to Bhiwandi some 25 years ago and worked as an accountant at various places. It was during this time that Sheikh came to Bhiwandi after completing pre-primary schooling in Azamgarh. He studied at Raees High School in Mandi area of Bhiwandi from Std V to X. He later joined Shibli Nomani College in Azamgarh where he obtained a Master8217;s in psychology,8221; said Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone II of the Thane police Ankush Shinde.

The Bhiwandi police, which is believed to have helped the Mumbai Crime Branch in arresting Sheikh on Tuesday night, also grilled Shahid.

Zakir has five brothers, one of them is in Dubai. Of his four sisters, two are settled in Azamgarh while the other two are in Surat. Zakir himself got married last year.

8220;He again came to Bhiwandi some seven months ago. In June, along with his partner named Sarna, he started a scrap business in Khoni village some four km from Bhiwandi city. He even took a small piece of land on rent at the place,8221; added Shinde.

Meanwhile, the fifth floor flat in Super Tower Apartments in Bhiwandi city where Zakir and Shahid live with their family was locked on Thursday. People of the neighbourhood in Mandi area of the town refused to speak to the media.

8220;On Tuesday night, around 1.30 am, Crime Branch officials came to our residence. He Zakir was out with his friends. So, we called him up after which he came. They took him away saying they wanted to interrogate him and that he would be released by morning,8221; said a relative Yasir Siddiqui, a final year student at the Bhiwandi Nizampura Nagarpalika College.

MIDC, ANDHERI: At Sadiq8217;s place of work, they say he was fired

Express News Service

A day after the Mumbai Police arrested five people in connection with blasts around the country, the mood at the office of Content Management Systems CMS, where suspected terror mastermind Mohammed Sadiq Ahmed Sheikh worked, was wary, to say the least.

While media-persons waited over six hours outside the company8217;s premises in MIDC, Andheri, to meet people from the human resources department, the final word from CMS came from a member of its legal team.

8220;We have minimum information about this incident. After the report, we took immediate action, but we cannot comment any more or state specific details about the incident, since it is sub judice,8221; said Vijay Gupta, who represents the company8217;s legal division.

Gupta, however, confirmed that Sadiq had worked at one of the company8217;s customer sites for a year. 8220;We terminated his employment as soon as we heard about his involvement,8221; said Gupta. Sadiq8217;s colleague at CMS is believed to have alerted company seniors when he found Sadiq working late nights and typing in Urdu.

Sadiq reportedly stopped coming to work last week, after his behaviour was reported to seniors. 8220;We are investigating the incident internally, and are giving full co-operation to the police,8221; said Gupta.