Stunned by the arrest of Uzair Ahmed on Wednesday from Ranchi, his family alleged foul play on the part of police for acting in a haste to save its own face. His wife Fatuma Sani, however, confirmed that Haidar, one of the accused in the Patna blasts was known to the family and used to teach her two children on mere fee of Rs 30 per month at a nearby library.
"This is just face saving exercise. The police in order to save their own skin pick up anyone arbitrarily so that no one points figure on their capability," said Fatuma.
Fatuma, an Ethiopian national who speaks fluent Hindi, was married to Uzair Ahmed in 1997 while he was in Ethiopia working with an American firm Dieto. later, he shifted to another American firm Shefer. Both the companies had sugar mills.
She also admitted that Haider, to whom Uzair was alleged of making finances at several instances, was a very bright student and used to teach some of the children of the locality, including her two children - a boy and a girl. "We used to pay Rs 30 as tuition fee for the two children who were teaching them at the nearby Millat library," she added.
Haider hails from Aurangabad in Bihar and was said to be in Ranchi in February last to recruit new faces for IM.When asked about the NIA's allegation of paying Rs 30,000 to Haider, Fatuma said that it could have been given to him under Zakat (obligation that an individual has to donate a certain proportion of wealth each year to charitable causes) which is not generally disclosed. It could also be given to someone who is in need, she added.
Remembering Wednesday evening, Fatuma said that Uzair came from his office as usual and received a call from someone from his office who said that SSP Saket Kumar Singh has called him for interrogation. He went on his bike and came back saying that he has been called again after an hour. "Uzair again left home at about 9:10 pm for SSP's residence saying he will speak only truth before him as he has not done anything wrong," she added. He did not return after that in the night leaving them under suspicion the whole night. A person from Doranda Police Station however, came and said that he has been taken to Patna for interrogation, she said.
According to Fatuma, Uzair has no connection with any of the terrorists who might have had come in their contact through mosque, where he used to visit regularly for offering namaz.
Interestingly, his name had also appeared in the newspapers earlier in the Manzar Imaam episode but no enquiry was made at that time. "When we asked about his name coming in some of the newspapers, he had said that it could be someone else," Fatuma said.
Uzair, basically hails from Patna in Bihar and came here to study at Ranchi Polytechnic College and after working for few years at Tatisilwai in Ranchi and Mumbai shifted to Ethiopia and remained there for about 10 years. He later married to an Ethiopian national Fatuma. After two years of their marriage, Uzair convinced Fatuma to move back to Ranchi in 2000 and started working as Maintenance Engineer.
Uzair is youngest among three brothers and three sisters. He has been living in Mani Tola for the last three years in his own small house, while the rest of his brothers and sisters are said to be residing in Patna.