The Hindu : National : A worry for Gujarat police

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National

A worry for Gujarat police

Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD: The mysterious disappearance of a burqa-clad woman, who introduced herself as Haula Younis from Iraq and visited the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute at the Ahmedabad civil hospital campus last month, is causing concern to the Gujarat police.

The woman, who claimed to be a teaching assistant in a science college associated with the University of Baghdad, had sent an e-mail to the institute in August expressing her desire to conduct research in cervical cancer at the famed institute. The institute gave her the preliminary nod and asked her to come with the necessary documents.

She visited the institute on November 16 but came without the necessary documents. After making preliminary inquiries she left abruptly when she was told that she would have to deposit Rs. 10,000 as fees for using the institute facilities. She has not returned so far.

Police inquiries also reached a dead end at the Ahmedabad airport as it had no records of her arrival or departure.

It was also found that the close-circuit television cameras installed in the wake of the powerful July 26, 2008 blast at the hospital which killed more than 20 people including hospital staff , were non-functional that day.

The institute authorities admitted that their efforts to search the internet for the science college in Baghdad where she was supposed to be a teaching assistant, proved futile.

“We could find the University of Baghdad but nothing about any science college claimed to be associated with it,” an institute official said.

The institute authorities have absolutely no information about the burqa-clad woman except for the e-mail address she used to first contact them , but all efforts to trace back the address have so far not yielded any result.

A police spokesman said so far the police was not treating her as a terror suspect, but her mysterious disappearance was certainly a matter of concern particularly because of the latest Union Home Ministry alerts about possible suicide squad attacks in Gujarat and some metro cities.

The State police would also look for records of her visa and travel plans if available with the concerned Central government departments, the police said.

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