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Home  » News » Repeat of Fasih case? Now a doc goes missing in Saudi

Repeat of Fasih case? Now a doc goes missing in Saudi

By Vicky Nanjappa
October 18, 2012 17:10 IST
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A case very similar to Fasih Mehmood, a Saudi Arabia-based engineer hailing from Bihar arrested in that country by Indian police for his alleged role in the 2010 Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts in Bangalore, is doing the rounds. While the family of Fasih Mehmood had alleged that he had gone missing after the Indian agencies had picked up him up from Saudi Arabia, this time it is the family of a doctor who are making similar allegations, reports Vicky Nanjappa.

Dr Usman Ghani, 36, who works with the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has gone missing, according to members of his family. It is alleged that Dr Ghani's name had cropped up during the interrogation of the youth arrested in connection with the Bangalore assassination plot -- where journalists and Hindu leaders were under the target radar.

The family members allege that after Dr Ghani was questioned jointly by the Indian and Saudi Arabian agencies, he had gone missing. It is alleged that a team of both the Indian and Saudi police arrived at the National Guard Hospital a couple of days back and took him for questioning.

Dr Ghani's wife, who is also a doctor at the same hospital, had asked the police why they were taking her husband. The police had replied that there was nothing to worry; and they had only a couple of questions to ask and they would send him back.

However, the allegation now is that he never returned.

Originally belonging from Dharwad in Karnataka, Dr Ghani's family is currently settled in Bangalore. Members of his family, when asked about Dr Ghani, said that they know nothing and are only praying for his return.

"We are worried and do not know where he is and do not want to comment further," the mother of the missing doctor said.

Other members of the family said that they had asked both the Karnataka and Saudi police about Dr Ghani, but both denied that he was in their custody. The members of the family have even approached the administrative authorities in Saudi Arabia who have told them they had no clue about his whereabouts.

The family members are not sure whether they have to move the court or not. The Jamia Teachers Solidatiry Association, which had fought the case for Fasih Mehmood, when contacted, said that no one has approached them so far and if they did they would help them out.

Dr Ghani's name cropped up during the interrogation of the 14 youth who were arrested in connection with the Bangalore assassination plot. It was alleged by the youth that Dr Ghani was part of the conspiracy and was in the know of the plot to assassinate some persons in the journalistic and political circles.

The case is very similar to the Fasih Mehmood case. Mehmood who was allegedly named by some operatives in Bangalore went missing five months back from Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia.

An engineer from Darabanga in Bihar, Fasih was taken in for questioning, but the family alleged that he never returned and neither were his whereabouts made public. The family had alleged that he had been brought down to India, but the authorities -- who were dragged up to the Supreme Court -- said that he was not in their custody and the extradition details with the Saudi authorities were still being worked on.

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