Last night's jubilation at the residence here of Mohammed Haneef gave way to despair as news of him being charged by Australian police trickled in, bringing to an abrupt halt preparations to welcome him home.
BANGALORE: Last night's jubilation at the residence here of Mohammed Haneef today gave way to despair as news of him being charged by Australian police trickled in, bringing to an abrupt halt preparations to welcome him home.
The third-floor apartment in the Daffodils' building, where Haneef's mother lives, on Saturday had its doors shut and curtains drawn since early this morning as reporters and broadcast vans gathered to get a "few bytes on the family's reaction" to the new development.
An otherwise polite security guard posted at the spot, who had been instructed not to allow anyone in, slowly turned belligerent as he signalled to everyone to move away and said no one from the Haneef family would talk to reporters who sent in requests for a "sound byte".
The family of Haneef, detained in Australia in connection with the terror plot in Britain, had heaved a sigh of relief yesterday on hearing that police had decided not to seek an extension of his dentention.
Tired of the umpteen reporters calling at their doorstep, the Haneefs today decided to switch off their calling bell and remained incommunicado till late afternoon, locked up inside their home.
An otherwise soft-spoken Sohaib, the younger brother of Haneef, grunted "no comments" to all reporters trying to get a reaction over the phone.
Except for the chattering of school children passing by and the aroma of biryani wafting from a nearby marriage hall opposite the building, an eerie silence enveloped the building.
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