Sheikh, Kausar Bi were picked up from bus by police: Driver

HYDERABAD: A third person along with Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi was picked up by armed policemen from a bus on Hyderabad-Mumbai national highway in the dead of the night on November 22, 2005, said the driver of the bus on Wednesday.

Mohammad Bahaduddin, the driver of a bus of a private travel agency which operates services between Hyderabad and Maharashtra, told a local TV channel by telephone that an armed police team had picked up Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausar Bi and another person who were travelling in his bus proceeding towards Nasik.

Bahaduddin said the police team stopped the bus near Tandolla, about 200 kms from here, on Hyderabad-Mumbai national highway in the late night on November 22, 2005.

"As I applied the brakes, the armed policemen asked me to open the door of the bus saying they wanted to search the vehicle. Later, they took away three persons, including a woman," the driver said.

"When I tried to know what had happened, the co-passengers were restless and wanted to move on as it was too late in the night," he said.

Bahaduddin said he had reported the matter to his office on his return to the city. He also recalled that a police team from Gujarat had had visited the travel agency's office and inquired about the incident last year.

Unconfirmed reports said that police personnel from Gujarat Crime Investigation department had reconstructed the scene with the help of the bus driver and visited the location where the trio was picked up by an armed police team.