City trader held, released in Guj

Habeeb Qadri

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: It was a nervous three days for a city-based garment dealer and his family after he was picked up by police in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Habeeb Qadri, 53, was detained by the Gujarat police for questioning in connection with the Mumbai serial blasts. After that, his wife found herself stranded at Hotel Palm Residency with her two minor children.

Qadri is a commission agent for garment manufacturing. He usually visits Ahmedabad and thought he would take his family along this time. “My father, mother, seven-year-old brother and sister were staying at Hotel Palm Residency. On July 17, a police team arrived at the hotel. They told my mother they were taking my father for questioning,” said Naseeb, eldest son of Qadri, who was in Mumbai.

The Qadris stay near Imambada in Jogeshwari (E). “On the morning of July 18 at 9 o’- clock, the police took my father back to the hotel for a change of clothes and then took him away again,” said Naseeb. “My family had all the documents and identification papers. My father gave references of his business associates.”

Sources said Qadri was allowed to make phone calls to his wife, but had been asked not to step outside the room he was being questioned in at the time. Several activists came forward to contact the Gujarat police. On Wednesday evening, Qadri was released and allowed to return to the hotel. He and his family were reportedly on their way to Mumbai.

The Times of India, July 21, 2011