Govt not helping us, alleges brother of bizman held in Spain

The Spanish police arrested Roshan, a father of six, and 14 others from a mosque in Barcelona, on January 19 last year, reports HT Correspondent.

“We are not being helped by the government because we are Muslims”, said Mehboob Khan (47).

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His brother, Roshan Jamal Khan was convicted in Spain, on December 14, along with 10 Pakistanis, for planning terror attacks on Barcelona’s underground train system. Roshan, a 50-year-old businessman and graduate of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison. The other accused were sentenced to jail for up to 14 years.

According to a copy of the Spanish court’s judgment, the court used as evidence an interview of a Taliban spokesman, Maulvi Umar, in which he said: “The one in Barcelona was taken by 12 of us who were under the command of Baitullah Mehsud”. Umar also mentioned that Spain had sent troops to Afganistan.

Mehboob, who owns a construction business, pointed out that the interview was conducted in August last year, while Roshan was arrested in January. Khan’s conviction was also based on the testimony of an unidentified witness, who Roshan’s lawyer alleged was a member of the French secret service, and had worked for the Taliban for over three years.

Advocate Parveez Ubhare – who is helping Mehboob’s family in Mumbai – said that while the court gave a clean chit to the main members of the organisation (other than the 10 sentenced to jail), it convicted Jamal for being a member. “The court acquitted him of the conspiracy charges”, added Ubhare.

The Spanish police arrested Roshan, a father of six, and 14 others from a mosque in Barcelona, on January 19 last year.