Raid at suspect's house sparks tension in Hyderabad

The old city of Hyderabad was tense on Wednesday after a police team comprising nearly 50 persons raided the house of Moulana Nasiruddin, who is in custody of the Gujarat police, allegedly for the murder of former Home Minister Haren Pandya.

Moulana Nasiruddin's brother, Rafiuddin told rediff.com that a police team raided the house at Saidabad in the Old City and seized a cell phone and a hard disk.

He said only Nasiruddin's wife Tasneem and her daughter-in-law were present at the house when the raid took place.

70-year-old Tasneem said police had barged into the house at 5.30 pm IST and raided it.

She alleged that the police abused her and opened the cupboards in the house forcibly. The police has been harassing her family since the past 15 years, but this was the worst she had seen, she added.

She further alleged that her youngest son, Jabir, has been missing since Wednesday evening and suspects that the police may have picked him up too.

The family had lodged a complaint against the behaviour of the police and also regarding Jabir with the Saidabad police.

Family members allege that the police team comprised members of the Hyderabad and Gujarat police.

They feel that they were looking for clues regarding Abu Basher, the man who is termed as the mastermind in the Gujarat and Bangalore blasts.

Basher used to teach at a Madarassa between 2005 and 2006 and during the course of his stay in Hyderabad he may have visited the Saidabad area a couple of times.

However, no police official was available for comment on the issue. The moment the news regarding the raid broke out, huge crowds gathered at Saidabad to express their solidarity with the family.

Members of the crowd said that the police had harassed women this time and they would protest against the same.

Moulana Nasiruddin was picked up by the Gujarat police two years back in connection with the Haren Pandya murder case. His son, Riazzudding Nasir, too was picked up by the Karnataka police on the suspicion that he had planned major terror strikes both in Karnataka and Goa.