ATS chief Hemant Karkare said his team was working on information provided by the Uttar Pradesh police. He refused to give details.
There is an air of anxiety in the dingy room of chawl 303 of Motilal Nagar near Bangur Nagar in Goregaon (West). The Ansaris, who reside there, have been in a huddle since Saturday when television flashed the news that the Uttar Pradesh police had arrested six suspected terrorists, who were planning strikes in Mumbai.
A phone call from someone who claimed to be a friend shocked them. “The caller said, ‘One of the suspects is Faheem Ahmad Ansari. Is he your family member?’ And then the phone went blank,” said Saba Ansari, elder sister-in-law of Faheem.
There have been two more calls since. The family has been glued to the TV in the hope of catching a glimpse of the suspects. “Those who have been arrested have their faces covered,” said Saba. “There is no way we can find out if one of them is our Faheem. If the person arrested is our Faheem, then one of us would have to rush to UP.”
Faheem’s younger sister-in-law Apsara said he was a Std X dropout who worked in a printing press in Mumbai and went to Dubai a couple of years ago in search of better employment. “He did not have a criminal background,” she said.
“In Dubai he got employment and was very happy,” Saba said. “He used to send us money every month. But a year ago he called and said he was not happy and was looking for a change of job.”
Faheem apparently said his employers were ill-treating him and had snatched his belongings, passport, and cell phone. “After that phone call he just vanished,” Saba said. “We haven’t heard from him since.” The family recently requested a friend to lodge a missing complaint in Dubai.
Asked why the family had not sought the Indian embassy’s help, Saba said, “Since he did not have his passport, we thought he was hiding and would return when he got a chance.”
Faheem’s wife and four-year-old daughter stay with his family in Goregaon. “She is very worried and does not know what to do,” Saba said.
The family has been praying that its worst fears would prove unfounded and news of Faheem’s arrest in a terrorist plot would turn out to be untrue. But its hopes plummeted on Monday evening when a team of officers from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) visited them and asked about Faheem. “They even took his photographs,” said Saba.
ATS chief Hemant Karkare said his team was working on information provided by the Uttar Pradesh police. He refused to give details.
s_vijay@dnaindia.net
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