The arrest of Tamil Nadu’s most wanted extremist ‘Police’ Fakruddin has brought relief not only to the investigators, but more importantly to his family here, as it would mean an end to the police torture it had suffered for the past several years, despite the fact that the arrested fugitive himself was the son of a policeman.
Talking to Express on Saturday, Fakruddin’s septuagenarian mother Syed Meera demanded that the police keep away from the family, now that he has been arrested. According to Meera, her son “died two years ago as soon as he went underground.”
The 70-year-old, who had suffered paralysis and is also a diabetic, alleged that the police, particularly the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) personnel, had been torturing her and the family members for the past several years on the pretext of inquiring them.
When this reporter visited her house which is situated in a narrow lane on Kareemshah Masjid 4th Street in Nelpettai, a teary-eyed Meera claimed she was not worried about her son’s arrest.
“The day he was declared an absconding accused (October 29, 2011), I considered him dead. I was only worried about the police torture on me and my family members,” she rued.
“I’ve been suffering from diabetes and paralysis for more than past 10 years. Though my husband, Sikkandar Basha, was a Sub Inspector at the Vilakkuthoon police station, our family was totally shattered by the merciless torture of the police. We did not promote any anti-social activities, but were harassed by police for no reason,” she said.
Dwelling in a 250 sq.ft house comprising a room, a narrow kitchen and a tiny toilet, the elderly woman had been surviving on PDS rice and free medicines from the Government Hospital. She claimed after her husband’s death, she had not received pension till date. Her other children too could not find any source of income as the police had constantly been on their trail.