Gloom descends on Kafeel's family in Bangalore

Bangalore, Aug 3: A pall of gloom descended on the family of Kafeel Ahmed, the prime accused in the failed Glasgow Airport attack, who succumbed to burn injuries at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary hospital in Scotland last night.

The parents of Kafeel, Maqbool Ahmed and Zakia Ahmed, both doctors, despite being at home could not be reached for comment.

Hardly any visitor was seen coming to the house, located in the middle of posh Banashankari area of the city.

Sources said the Indian High Commission officials in Britain had contacted the family and informed them of the death and shifting of the body of the aeronautical engineer.

The City police, who had questioned the family after the terror attack, were also in touch with the family.

The traumatized parents of Kafeel, who had spoken to the media a couple of days after the incident, later shut themselves off from outside world. The Ahmed's sister Kauser, a medical student at Kolar near here stays with the family.

The 27-year-old Kafeel had allegedly rammed a flamming Jeep Charokee loaded with canisters and fuel into the Glasgow airport on June 30.

Held by the police at the spot, Kafeel, who suffered 90 per cent burns, had been for his life in the special burns unit of the military hospital.

Kafeel, an engineer from Bangalore and his younger brother Sabeel Ahmed, a doctor working in Liverpool, are the two accused in the failed attack. The British police arrested Sabeel and charged him with suppressing information about the terror plot.

Their second cousin Mohammed Haneef, a doctor, who worked at Brisbane in Australia was initially detained in connection with the case but the charges were later dropped by the Australian authorities.

A businessman said to be a close relative of Ahmeds tried to enter the house this morning but was denied entry.

Wabasab Bashir told mediapersons at the spot that he had come to pay respects to Kafeel.

''Whoever the person may be it is the custom of Muslims to pay last respects when somebody dies. That's why I came,'' he said.

UNI