NEW DELHI: Two days after the deadly car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort, new revelations from the family of arrested doctor Shaheen Sayeed have added a personal dimension to the ongoing terror investigation.
Speaking to PTI in Lucknow, Mohammad Shoaib, Shaheen’s elder brother, has said the family is in “complete disbelief” over her alleged link to terrorist activities. He added that they were still struggling to come to terms with the accusations.
He confirmed that the police and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials had searched their home but behaved respectfully.
“They searched the house and asked questions normally, the same way you are asking me now,” Shoaib said.
“Neither my father nor I were treated harshly. There was no pressure or force used to make us say anything. They only asked about when my sister stopped visiting us.”
Shoaib revealed that the family had not been in contact with Shaheen for the past four years. However, their parents occasionally called to check on her well-being.
“We have had no contact. It’s been four years since we last spoke. Parents will naturally call their children to ask how they are doing. I am her elder brother, of course, I would also worry about her. Isn’t that normal?” he said.
For live updates | Delhi bomb blast When asked if he had ever visited her residence near IIM Road in Lucknow, Shoaib replied: “No, I have never gone there. I only knew that she has a house somewhere along the IIM Road. I don’t even know the exact location.”
He said there was never any reason to suspect her of wrongdoing.
“Even when she was studying medicine, there was never any sign of her being involved in anything suspicious. I still don’t believe these allegations. As I have said before, I simply cannot believe it,” he said.
Shaheen’s former husband, Dr Zafar Hayat, who lives in Kanpur, also expressed shock over her alleged role in the case. He said he learned about her arrest only a day earlier.
Hayat and Shaheen married in November 2003 and got divorced in 2012. Both were doctors, and he recalled her as “a loving mother and caring person.”
“Our divorce took place towards the end of 2012. I am not sure what was on her mind that led to it. There was never any dispute or quarrel between us. She was a loving and caring person,” he said.
“I never had any inkling that she could be involved in such activities. She was deeply attached to her family and children, loved them immensely and took care of their studies,” Hayat added.
Recalling their marriage, he said: “I had never seen her in a burqa. She only wore it during the wedding rituals. I have no idea about her alleged involvement in any terror activities now being reported. Our divorce happened long ago, in 2012, and if she got involved in something later, I know nothing about it.”
He also remembered a conversation they once had about settling abroad.
Dr Hayat recalled that Shaheen had once suggested settling in Australia or Europe for better pay and quality of life; however, he told her that they already had good jobs and a comfortable life in India, surrounded by family and friends.
Hayat said he was unaware that Shaheen had returned to India and maintained that she showed no signs of any extremist beliefs during their years together.
According to investigators, Dr Shaheen Sayeed, associated with Al-Falah University in Faridabad, was among those arrested following Monday’s explosion near the Red Fort.
Police suspect she was linked to Dr Muzammil Ganaie, another faculty member at the same university, alleged to be part of a “white-collar terror module” with ties to
Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Authorities said the module spread across Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh was exposed after the recovery of 2,900 kg of explosives and the arrest of eight people, including three doctors from Al-Falah University.
Investigators claim that Shaheen headed Jaish-e-Mohammed’s women’s recruitment wing, Jamaat-ul-Mominat in India.
Her father, Syed Ahmad Ansari also expressed shock at the allegations.
“I last spoke to Shaheen about a month ago. I have never heard her mention Dr Muzammil or anyone involved in such activities,” he said.
Her father added that she had completed her medical studies in Prayagraj.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the Red Fort blast which police said was caused by a high-intensity explosive device planted in a car.
Investigations by police teams across Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are continuing into the wider multi-state module.
The explosion occurred around 7 pm on Monday at the Subhash Marg traffic signal, near the Red Fort Metro Station. The high-intensity blast ripped through a slow-moving Hyundai i20 car, killing at least 12 people and injuring several others.
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