Doda (Jammu & Kashmir): The news first came from TV channels and the family from Doda in Kashmir watched in disbelief as their son Shabir Ahmed was named as one of three terror suspects, arrested in the Capital on Thursday.

Shabbir had been running a shop in Doda for five years, living next door to a police station. His family and neighbours say Shabbir doesn't have a criminal record and is not a terrorist.

Says Shabir's father, Mohammad Shafi Bhat, "We live right next to a police station. You can verify records from all security agencies. My son has never had a police or criminal record . I cannot understand how he got involved."

Police say Shabbir and another man from Doda - Shafqat - were handing over a bag to a Pakistani national named Abu Qasim. They say they recovered two kgs of RDX, three grenades and Rs 25,000 in cash.

Neither Shabbir nor Shafqat were Lashkar suspects. At Shafqat's home, his wife Rabia Begum says the alleged terrorist was a carpenter, who was struggling to make ends meet.

"I sold my jewellery to buy the carpentary machine. How can we afford visits to Delhi? It has been difficult for us to make both ends meet. He labours for a day and then we get to eat something," says she.

A carpenter and a shopkeeper who have lived in a quiet, non-threatening way for years are now being questioned over the extent of their involvement in a Lashkar plan to bomb the Capital. They are also under the scanner for how they managed to escape police scrutiny so easily.

What remains to be seen now is how true are the police's claims.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/04_2007/terrorists-next-door-cops-clueless-39341.html