Mohammed Khalid, who was picked up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Hyderabad on Monday in connection with the bomb blast in Burdwan in West Bengal, was one of the hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who have taken shelter in the city over the last two years.
While the NIA maintains that he had links with Bangladesh based terrorist groups and was being questioned for his suspected role in the blast in Burdwan, Khalid's mother Hameda Begum denied the allegations and said her son was being falsely implicated in the case.
"My son is innocent and he never had anything to do with any illegal activity. We have come here to take refuge as our lives were under threat in Myanmar", she said.
Khalid's family including his wife Sameera, two daughters and two sisters were residing in the Balapur area of the city along with other Rohingya families. He was teaching Arabic and Quran to the children of Rohingya families in a slum area.
On the statements that Khalid did not have any travel documents, Hameda Begum said that none of the Rohingya refugees had any documents except the refugee certificate issued by the UN High Commission for Refugees in New Delhi.
After he was taken away by plain clothed policemen on Monday, NIA brought him back twice to his ramshackle home for search. NIA said that it recovered a laptop with literature on making bombs and cyanide. He was produced in a local court late on Tuesday evening and shifted to New Delhi for further questioning.
NIA statement said that he had participated in a training camp organised by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He was associated with the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation and had the expertise of making explosives. He also visited Bangladesh where he allegedly imparted training to others.
Hameda Begum said that his son was a graduate from a madarassa and had no criminal record. "I appeal to the authorities to conduct an impartial inquiry and release my innocent son", she said.