Neighbours shocked, want Tambes evicted out of Saif Apartment

Residents of Saif Apartment in Shibali Nagar area in Mumbra, where Tabrez Noor Mohammed Tambe’s family reside, have demanded that they be evicted by their landlord after it emerged that Tabrez had travelled from Egypt to Libya to join the Islamic State (IS).

When DNA visited the Tambe’s rented residence on the sixth floor of the building, nobody was at home. Neighbours said the family had been called in for questioning by the police.

The family has been residing in the building since February 2016. Neighbours said they were shocked to learn of Tabrez having joined IS, and that they had contacted the owner of the flat, Shama Banu Sayyed, demanding that she evict her tenants.

Waseed Khan, a resident of the building, said, “We will ask the owner to evict the tenants as we don’t want any nuisance to be created in the society.”

Describing the family as introverted, a neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said, “ The family never came and spoke to any of the society members and were very peaceful. They never had any issues regarding the maintenance of the society.”

While the Tambes have a house in Mumbra, which they often visit, they originally hail from the Konkan region. “We never saw Tabrez, but we often came across his younger brother who resided in the building. Relatives visited them and stayed for a couple of days and used to leave after that,” said another neighbour.