We were kept in the dark,says Fasih family

Nikhat,who is eight months pregnant,boarded a train for Delhi from Darbhanga today.

The only time the family got any information was in June,when the Karnataka government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in response to a habeas corpus petition by Nikhat.

Fasih’s brother,Sabih,who has quit his job in the Middle East to be with his mother,heard about the deportation and arrest from television channels.

Accompanied by Fasih’s advocate,he reached Tis Hazari court in the capital and waited in vain for his brother to be produced. Only in the evening did the family receive a call from the Delhi Police Special Cell,saying the advocate could meet Fasih in police custody on Tuesday morning.

Since Fasih’s last call from Saudi Arabia months ago,“we don’t know what has been happening”,Sabih said.

In Barh Samaila village in Darbhanga,Fasih’s father is relieved that some news has finally come but questions why he was “kept in illegal detention” for over five months.

“I have heard the news from TV. The investigating agency does not have the courtesy to inform us. Though I am happy to finally hear some news about my son,I am not sure of a fair investigation,” said Firoz Ahmed,a government doctor.

Fasih’s mother,Amra Jamal,is a schoolteacher; she is accompanying Nikhat on the train to Delhi.

“Our family is educated and cosmopolitan. We are patriotic people. My brother could not have done what they say he has done,” said Sabih.

Fasih has been named as an accused in the Special Cell’s chargesheet in the 2010 Jama Masjid firing and attempted blast. He is also suspected to have been one of the co-conspirators behind the Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts in Bangalore.

“There are no allegations against him except for the statement of one of the alleged Indian Mujahideen members arrested by the police,saying that Fasih had introduced Yasin Bhatkal to him back in 2003. Fasih was a student then and there is nothing to link him with terrorists,” said his advocate Syed Irfan Alam.