MUMBAI: Sheikh Nabi Ahmed, a man from Jogeshwari here, who was arrested in Islamabad on Sunday for not having proper documentation could have been an operative of the banned Students Islamic movement of India (SIMI). He was interrogated around 12 years back by the Mumbai police.
Though the police are not coming out openly about the identity of Nabi, sources said he might be the same person who the police had interrogated briefly, following which he had suddenly gone untraceable. He was believed to have fled to Pakistan.
Residents of the locality where Nabi and his family used to reside too said the family left the place several years ago after repeated inquiries by the police.“Nabi’s family used to stay here till about four years back. But, they faced a lot of trouble. Police used to come to the place often to inquire about him. The family was worried, since they were unable to get their daughters married off. Therefore, they left,” said Dilip Solanki, who currently resides at the house mentioned by Nabi to the Pakistani authorities after his arrest.
“I had been staying in the same locality and knew Nabi for a long time. He was always a very reserved kind of person. No one would have suspected that he would become a terrorist. We were all shocked when we first heard so after he fled the house,” Solanki added.
“Nabi must have been aged around 18 years when he left home about 12-13 years back,” Solanki added.
“Nabi’s family now stays at a different place. I meet them once in a while as I’ve to pay them rent,” he said while declining to reveal the new address of Nabi’s family.