Two Pak students held in anti-terror raids fly back home, abandon deportation fight

London, Aug.22 (ANI): Two of the ten Pakistani students who were detained during counter-terrorism raids in Manchester and Liverpool earlier this year have flown back home, discontinuing their fight against deportation.

Abdul Wahab Khan, 26, and Shoaib Khan, 27 were among ten Pakistanis who were detained in April on national security grounds after officials claimed that they have foiled a major bombing plot by Al-Qaeda.

Amjad Malik, a solicitor of both the students, said both had decided to return to Pakistan after their bail applications were rejected last week.

Malik lambasted the British officials for the harsh treatment meted out to the students, saying they were treated like murderers or rapists in the Manchester prison.

"They have been in detention for 134 days. They are in category A conditions and are strip-searched. They realized that they were going to remain in custody when they haven't committed any crime," Malik said.

"Also, Ramadan is coming nearer and they are not happy with the facilities in place in prison, so they wish to spend their Eid with their families in Pakistan," The Times quoted Malik, as saying.

All the Pakistani civilians had come to Britain on student visas.

After three weeks of intense interrogation all charges against the students were dropped in May due to lack of evidence.

However, they were kept in high-security prisons under immigration laws, and handed over to the UK Borders Agency for deportation. (ANI)