The Hindu : Front Page : Uneasy calm in Azamgarh village

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Thursday, Sep 25, 2008
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Uneasy calm in Azamgarh village

Atiq Khan

Apprehending another raid, villagers maintain vigil

IN A SPOT: Anxiety is writ large on villagers of Sanjarpur on Wednesday. — Photo: Subir Roy

SANJARPUR (Azamgarh): Uneasy calm prevails in this village in Uttar Pradesh even as the locals maintain a night-long vigil, apprehending another police raid.

Atif and Sajid, killed in an encounter with the Delhi police on September 19, following their alleged involvement in the serial bomb blasts in the Capital, and Mohammad Saif, who was arrested, belong to Sanjarpur.

Four others — Sajid Qureish, Arif, Khalid and Salman Shakeel — who the police allege are also involved in the serial blasts, too hail from this village.

On Tuesday, a Delhi police team and the Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police conducted a two-hour raid in the village, searching for them. But the effort yielded nothing.

In fact, the whereabouts of the wanted people are not known to even the village elders and their peers. Shadab alias Mister, father of Saif, said: “If my son is guilty, shoot him but before coming to any conclusion a proper investigation should be conducted.”

“A judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge should be conducted into the alleged involvement of the youth of Sanjarpur. The stigma of terrorism has become unbearable. Muslims in the entire Sarai Mir area are living in a state of fear,” said Iqbal Ahmed, who retired as professor of Psychology from the Shibli National College, Azamgarh. Though no subsequent raids were conducted at Sanjarpur and in adjoining villages, the village elders and the youth were keeping a close watch.

When a team of The Hindu visited Sanjarpur on Wednesday, the villagers were in a huddle in a large open space — “chaupal” in the local parlance.

Despair and anger against the police action were palpable. They were also dismayed at the “step-motherly” treatment of Muslims by a section of the media.

Dr. Ahmed, who has spent about 11 years in Singapore, narrated how an influential daily in the State carried a news item on Tuesday about Rs. 3 crore being transacted within six weeks from a bank account of Atif. However, during police checks, only Rs. 1,406 was found in Atif’s account and about Rs.31,000 in Mohammad Saif’s account, he claimed.

“No help is coming from any quarter, we are unnecessarily being hounded by the police,” said Tariq Shafique, a social activist of Azamgarh.

Delhi blasts probe

Raids in Azamgarh for terror suspects

Receptionist identifies Saif

Saif identifies supply point in Manipal

Separatewing carried out blasts in South?

Delhi police team makes enquiries in Udupi

Bashir was also a Jamia student

Images: Encounter at Jamia Nagar

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