Date:18/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091856131200.htm

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Hang my son if he is guilty: Tauqeer’s mother

Special Correspondent

“The family has gone through a lot of humiliation”

— Photo: Special Arrangement

Zubeida Qureshi (left), mother of suspected terrorist Abdus Subhan Qureishi at a press conference in Mumbai.

MUMBAI: A distraught Zubeida Qureishi, mother of Abdus Subhan Qureishi alias Tauqeer, who is wanted in connection with the terror e-mails, appealed to her son on Wednesday to come out in public and clear his name.

“I am a Hindustani and my son cannot do anything that is so terrible,” she told a packed press conference. “However if he is guilty, hang my son in front of me,” she said, breaking down.

“We are from a good family and we have brought him up well. In 1999, he was separated from us after he got married and lived in a rented house. He later went to stay in Mira Road with his wife in 2001. If my son is hearing this, let him come out from wherever he is. If he is guilty, let him be punished. But first let his guilt be proved.”

Her lawyer Mobin Solkar said Tauqeer had no known connection with the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which was banned in 2003. He also had no criminal cases against him. Tauqeer studied up to SSC and then got a Diploma in Engineering from the Bharatiya Vidyapeeth in Navi Mumbai. He was certified by Microsoft and worked for a direct franchisee of WIPRO for three years, after which he joined Datamatics.

He has three children, the eldest of whom is eight years old. Since 2006, he has had no contact with his wife either. Mr. Solkar said the family did not know if he was alive or dead. The family was questioned after the July 2006 Mumbai blasts, but the police could not establish Tauqeer’s involvement, Mr. Solkar said. The family went through a lot of humiliation and torture and they did not even think of filing a police complaint when Tauqeer went missing. Even after the Ahmedabad blasts, the police took away his CPU and laptop.

“We are not saying he is innocent,” Mr. Solkar clarified. He was not a fanatic or a so-called fundamentalist, but a good, fun loving person, his family said.

The family has submitted petitions to the State human rights commission and the Anti-Terrorism Squad. They were willing to cooperate with the investigations.

Supreme Court judgements had said that it was wrong to attribute mens rea (criminal intent) to an absconding accused, because the fear factor was very strong, Mr. Solkar said.