Introduction: Afroze’s uncle gets a sum of £12,000 from UK govt annually; No help from Britain in the probe: ex-Mumbai police chief
London is still in the dark about the 7/7 bombings that killed 52 people and injured over 750. But they nourished, on their own soil, a wanted key al-Qaeda operative with money, luxury and sympathy.
Mubarak Musalman-the United Kingdom-based maternal uncle of al-Qaeda operative Mo¬hammed Afroze who was found guilty of conspiring to bomb the West Minster in London, the Rialto Towers in Melbourne, the Pentagon in Washington and the Indian Par¬liament the 9/11 way was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprison¬ment-is a wanted accused in the case.
Yet, Musalman resides in the heart of London, unbothered and free as the British police have not taken the trouble to probe him thor¬oughly.
Former Mumbai Commissioner of Police, M N Singh and a few other police officers had questioned a clean-shaven Musalman in a Lon¬don police station in 2002 after his name repeatedly surfaced in Afroze’s confessional statement as his financer and mentor.
“Musalman said it was his full¬time job to take care of his handi¬capped daughter. For this, the British government paid him £550 pounds a month,” explained Singh speaking to The Indian Express.
Moreover, Singh said that since Musalman had no other sources of income, the government also provided him with a “modest home” and paid him another £440 a month to take care of his family. That’s a total annual sum of almost £12,000 or Rs 6.4 lakh).
To top it all, the UK Government also granted him luxury. “He drove a Mercedes car and said that the State had given him one,” revealed Singh.
Musalman-about 40-years-old and balding-told the Mumbai po¬lice that he was born in the district of Bhilad, Gujarat, and was in the UK since the age of five. Today, he lives with his five children, two brothers and parents.
According to Afroze’s confes¬sional statement-which has been found true by the court-Musalman had convinced Afroze to join the al¬-Qaeda in the name of jihad. He also sent Afroze Rs 7 lakh to undergo pi¬lot training in Australia and gave him contact numbers of Mansoor Ilias, chief of AI-Qaeda cell in Aus¬tralia. He also sponspored his air tickets and stay in the UK US and Australia.
However, Singh is bitter that their counterparts abroad-especially in the UK-did not cooperate with their investigation.
“It should have been easy to trace Musalman’s accounts and investi¬gate where he got so much money from,” Singh said adding he had told Sir John Stevens, the then London commissioner of police that Musalman was the key conspirator.
Though Afroze had confessed that he had met his suicide squad members at one Mumtaz Hotel in Bedfort, UK the British police said there was no such “hotel”. “But we did find the place and they justified saying that it was a ‘restaurant’ and not a ‘hotel’! “ Singh said.
“I cannot say why, but there was a lack of co-operation. The Scotland Yard blocked the whole enquiry,” he said. Singh admitted the “Ameri¬cans were far more helpful than the British” but said that they were also uncooperative at crucial moments. “They refused to let us photograph a mosque and question a Muslim leader because they had good rela¬tions with them,” Singh said.
In Australia too, Singh said Afroze had two bank accounts but again, they could not be checked due to lack of cooperation.
“I hope the British pursue his ex¬tradition
seriously and take pro-ac¬tive steps in the light of the recent attacks,”
said Singh.