Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 18, 2003
Zahid Patni (26), who has reportedly
been detained in Dubai in connection with the August 25 twin blasts, will
be made a key witness in the case once he is deported to India in the next
few days, police officials on Wednesday.
Patni hatched the conspiracy in
Dubai along with Naseer and prime accused Syed Mohammed Hanif, a police
officer said. Hanif, his wife Fahimida, daughter Farheen and associate
Ashrat Ansari have already been arrested in the case.
Patni's brother,*an interior decorator,
lives in Naya Nagar in Mira Road and was questioned about the incidents
a few days ago, the police said. They added that he was innocent.
Patni's father, who runs an electrical
shop in Bhayandar. reportedly approached crime branch officers about the
reports that his son had been detained in Dubai and claimed that the reports
were untrue. He said his son was still working as a forklift operator for
a Dubai-based firm.
Meanwhile, police said that Hasan
Haidisee (25), who was shot dead in an encounter along with Lashkar terrorist
Abdul Aydeet, alias Naseer, in Matunga last Friday, was a computer professional
who worked at a cyber cafe in Hyderabad.
His relatives were expected to arrive
in Mumbai to claim the body, which was lying in the J.J. Hospital morgue.
Sources said that Haidisee arrived
in Mumbai three months ago and lived with Naseer in his Mira Road home.
Haidisee had reportedly sent an e-mail to a prominent TV channel on July
27, a day before a bomb exploded in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar (West). The
e-mail said, "Mumbai would witness a major blast and it would be a revenge
for the Gujarat violence."
Police alleged that Haidisee, who
did not have a criminal record, was a close aide of Naseer's and had fired
at the police team from a Smith and Wesson revolver during Friday's encounter.
