Indo-Asian News Service, IANS
Bangalore : The family of Bangalore doctor Mohammad Haneef Saturday said the charges levelled by the Australian police against him in connection with the failed British terror bid appeared to be “flimsy and baseless”.
The news of Haneef being charged, instead of being released as was widely expected Friday after the Australian Federal Police dropped plans to seek extension of his detention, came as a huge disappointment for the family.
Haneef’s wife Firdous maintained that her husband was not connected with any terror group and was in no way involved with the failed British terror plot.
Terming the charges as “baseless”, she said Haneef himself told the Australian police that he had left behind his SIM card with his cousins, Kafeel and Sabeel, when he left London for Brisbane, so charging him on this account was “unfair”.
The family is now unsure whether Haneef would be allowed to travel to India even if he gets bail, for which an Australian court has been moved.
The doctor is charged with supporting a terrorist organisation. He “recklessly” gave his mobile phone SIM card to people planning the bomb attacks, the charge says.
The Australian police formally charged the 27-year-old Haneef on Saturday after holding him in detention for 12 days for questioning. He was detained while leaving Brisbane for India on a one-way ticket.
Haneef is a distant cousin of brothers Kafeel Ahmed, who is believed to have driven the flaming Jeep into the Glasgow airport on June 30, and Sabeel Ahmed.
Kafeel, an aeronautical engineer, suffered 90 percent burns and is not expected to survive while Sabeel, a doctor, is under detention in Liverpool.
Haneef had told the police that he had taken a one-way ticket as he was in a hurry to see his new-born baby. Firdous, an engineering graduate, gave birth to the couple’s baby girl in Bangalore on June 26.