Journalism of Courage
Uzair Ahmad,arrested by the NIA on Wednesday in connection with the Patna serial blasts,is suspected to be a fundraiser for Indian Mujahideen in Ranchi,police sources said.
He is suspected to have given money to a youngster named Haider,who passed it on to Imtiaz Ansari,who is already in police custody in the case. The NIA,sources said,is looking for leads that could link Uzair to the blasts.
Uzairs wife Fatuma Sani said he knew Haider.
Haider used to live in Ranchi some two years back with his father,who was a tailor. He must have been 18,19 years old. A brilliant boy,he was the topper in Doranda college,I think, said Sani,adding that Haider tutored her children.
Haider used to organise tuition classes for about 12 children at a library here in Mani Tola. The money they allege my husband gave him must be the tuition fees for my children, she said. The couple have two children,aged eight and 12 years.
Sani does not deny Uzair knew Imtiaz despite the latters village being more than 10 km away from Uzairs Firdous Nagar residence in Mani Tola.
There are so many people who come to offer namaz,we cannot say for sure this Imtiaz was not among them. When and if Uzair met Imtiaz there,he must have said something by way of greeting, said the wife.
Relatives repeatedly point out Uzair never tried to run.
Why didnt he escape? If he is clean,why should he? asked a relative,who did not want to be identified. Uzair went on his own bike for the interrogation,after which he was arrested.
The youngest of six siblings,Uzair was born in Patna. He moved to Ranchi to pursue an electrical diploma course and was working with a leading newspaper as a maintenance engineer for about five years now.
He met and married Sani in Addis Ababa,where he had worked for American firms for 39 months. They married in 1997 and Sani arrived in India three years later. She retains her Ethiopian citizenship and has picked up Hindi and Urdu.
Family members said Uzairs fundraiser tag may have been a result of his charitable ways. He used to help people a lot by way of zakat. By its very nature,zakat is a secretive activity,so we do not have records to prove it, said a relative.
Uzair has no criminal cases against him either. However,sources said,he too followed the same puritanical strain of Islam,Ahle-Hadees,as the four other Ranchi residents suspected in the case.
Suspect nabbed in Kolkat
Kolkata: Acting on a tip-off,the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police on Thursday arrested Mohammad Ali,a 30-year-old resident of Muzaffarpur in Bihar,in connection with the Patna serial blasts. Ali is suspected to have links with the Indian Mujahidin. Police seized Rs 50,000 and a Dubai passport from him. He was picked up from the area near Victoria Memorial in south Kolkata. Sources in STF said the Bihar police have been informed and a team from there is likely to reach Kolkata on Friday to interrogate Ali. ENS
