In Mumbai suburb, Roshan Jamal’s family waits for him

Roshan is the sole Indian among the 10 detainees — the others are all from Pakistan—— picked up in an early morning police raid at a mosque in Barcelona on January 19. A team of CBI and Home Ministry officials went to Madrid in early February, but were not allowed to meet Roshan. On February 20, Spain granted consular access to the Indian mission during which Roshan, for the first time, spoke to Indian officials.

Recently, the Indian Government has given a “nothing-adverse” report on Roshan Khan, the only Indian now being held overseas under allegations of planning a terror attack, after his detailed statement to Indian officials and investigations carried out here to check the claims he had made. The Spanish authorities have not responded.

“They should tell us something. We do not have any idea what is happening in Spain. Why has he been kept there?” asks his teary eyed wife Farida. “We are common people. He went there to earn some money through business. We are really worried after reading all that has come in the newspaper. We just want him to come back soon.”

Roshan, who graduated from the St Xavier’s college, Mumbai, initially started with leather business in Mumbai and eventually moved onto the dairy business run by his father in South Mumbai.

“We have been involved in a lot of social work in the locality. We have a good name. This has come as a shock and could affect all that we have hard earned over the years,” says a concerned Inayat Khan, Farida’s brother.

A boxing enthusiast since his college days, Roshan encouraged his children to keep fit and exercise regularly. A foodie, he was particular about the food and dietary habits. “More than me, he would know what the children like and what they want. He would spend hours cooking as he himself is fond of cooking,” says Farida.

She says the family started getting anxious after the regular phone calls from Roshan stopped about two months ago. “Because of time difference it was difficult to talk all the time. But he used to call twice or thrice a week. Then suddenly the phone calls stopped,” says Inayat.

Farida says the first time she realised something was amiss was when she signed a letter to the Prime Minister. However, she did not tell her children as they were all preparing for their exams and their studies would get affected — something Roshan would not appreciate.

She emphasises: “We have never done any wrong. My husband doesn’t even allow children to watch any adverse sort of shows on TV. It’s mostly History and National Geographic or news channels. All I want is that he should be back at the earliest. The Indian and other Government should do all that they can to make sure that my husband comes back.”

Back in their living room in the tenement in the lower middle class habitation, papa’s girl Mariam sobs inconsolably sitting in her mother’s lap, waiting to hear her father’s voice.