At the Batliwala family home in Diamond Sagar building in Jogeshwari, the evening had been spent in despair.
"We are very happy. It is like Eid for us," said an ecstatic Yaktub Kolsawala, having just heard that his brother Ayub had been released by the Dutch authorities in Amsterdam. Ayub was one of the 12 whose "unruly behaviour" led to their Northwest Airlines plane being given F-16 escort. They were even suspected of having terrorist links.
Yaktub is shocked at the allegations, "My brother has been going abroad for the past 10 years." He is especially shocked at the allegations of drunken behaviour, "It is impossible to believe that any of the group drank liquor."
At the Batliwala family home in Diamond Sagar building in Jogeshwari, the evening had been spent in despair. Earlier, Mohammed Issaq Batliwala, elder brother of the detained Iqbal, had said, "Hardly has the grief of losing my cousin Maqsood Darwesh in the recent serial blasts sunk in that Iqbal has been detained at Amsterdam.
"We are garment traders dealing in exports and travel to various countries. We've been in business for 25 years and have been associated with anything criminal in nature."
After the news of Iqbal's release is given to them, his eldest son Habib says, "My mother has just agreed to have some food. She's refused to eat anything since she learnt that my father among group of 12 being detained by the police in Amsterdam."
Memonwada in Jogeshwari had been in a state of shock since the news arrived, since
nine of the 12 detained live here. Abdul Aziz, father of the young Suhail Abdul Nijani, 21, who recently entered into the family owned garment business and is the youngest of the 12 detained, said, "He is very playful by nature and must have indulged in some innocent prank which must not have gone down well with authorities. In the wake of the bomb blasts even the rustling of a paper is viewed suspiciously." This view is echoed by Imran Chappalwala, younger brother of Sajid, "Just because we have beards does not mean that we are terrorists.
"We are Indians and we always travel in groups for business purposes. We've been shocked by this. If things like this go on, how will we sell Indian goods in foreign lands?"
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