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Cleric, son and teacher detained in probe over links to Red Fort suicide bomber Umar
Officers say missing CCTV footage is under review while the mosque lies close to a room where the bomber allegedly hid after fleeing Al-Falah.
Three men – a cleric at a mosque in Sohna, his 18-year-old son, and a madrasa teacher – have been detained for questioning over suspected links to Red Fort suicide bomber Umar-un-Nabi, police officers aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
Investigators said the Faridabad Police crime branch has also seized the digital video recorder (DVR) of all CCTV cameras installed inside and outside the mosque in search of clues.
A senior official aware of the matter said the trio were picked up based on inputs suggesting possible contact with Umar. “We are questioning them, after which they will either be released or arrested. If required, the National Investigation Agency may also examine them. We have received information that Umar visited this mosque,” the official said.
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Investigators added that some CCTV recordings appeared to be missing from the seized DVR, though it was too early to say whether the data was lost due to a technical fault or deliberately deleted.
The mosque lies near the Nuh border, close to a small rented room where Umar is believed to have hidden after escaping from the Al-Falah University on October 30. It is also located along the Delhi-Mumbai highway – the route Umar allegedly used to enter Delhi via the Badarpur border on November 10 before triggering the deadly blast near the Red Fort.
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A mosque official, who asked not to be identified, said the cleric, Hafiz Taiyyab Hussain, 59, from Ghasera village in Nuh, was taken into custody around 5-5.30pm on Tuesday while sitting outside the mosque. At least five police personnel approached him and took him away without allowing him to alert anyone, the person cited above said. The team returned an hour later and detained madrasa teacher Mohammad Rashid, 26, from Lunhinga Kalan in Punhana, Nuh. “By 8pm, police officials came again and took Hussain’s son,” the official said. “All three are being held at an undisclosed location. Their families have not been given any updates. We hope they will be released after questioning.”
The mosque runs a madrasa where at least 34 students live. “Hussain was their teacher, and in his absence Rashid would teach them,” the official said, adding that a City Sohna police station official has collected Aadhaar details of all students as well as those detained.
