Bangalore, June 10: Abdul Samad, arrested in connection with the Pune German Bakery blast, has been getting unprecedented support from Bhatkal, his hometown.
Speaking to this newspaper, Raihana Bibi reiteratedthat her son Samad was innocent. He had been visiting the town from Dubai like any other person employed in that country.
“I was trying to find a bride for him,” Bibi said.
Samad’s uncle Aziz Mohammad was sure of his impending release. Mumbai-based lawyer Mubin Solkar would be defending the man’s innocence. His bail plea would be heard on Wednesday.
While giving a clean chit toSamad, his relative and Bhatkal Town Muncipal Council member Inayathulla Shabandari expressed anger over the media suffixing ‘Bhatkal’ to the names of three terror suspects, Yaseen, Riyaz and Iqbal.
Samad and the trio were cousins. However, none of their relatives, or the town, had come out supporting the trio, as they were now rallying support for Samad’s release.
The Mumbai ATS had claimed that Samad had underworld links, and had helped Chhota Shakeel in providing arms to Haji Imran, Suleiman Patel and Afzal Shaikh, arrested on August 5, 2009 from a Malgaon hotel.
But the FIR and their remand application mentioned that they accepted arms from Arif Mirza Baig through Chhota Shakeel, which gives a new twist to the case.
—-Agencies