Kishtwar Oct 7: Maintaining that their medico son is "innocent", parents of Waseem Akram Malik on Friday described the reports of his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi as false. They claimed that they had handed him over to the NIA in Delhi after brining him back from Bangladesh.
 "I was informed by the NIA that Waseem is required for questioning (in connection with the Delhi High Court blast case) and in this connection NIA has given a letter to me," Waseem's father  Reyaz-ul-Hassan told PTI.
 "I arranged the telephonic talk of my son (Waseem) with NIA officer, after that I arranged my son's return (from Dhaka) to the country and at Delhi Airport I and my wife handed over our son to NIA for questioning," Hassan said.
 Waseem is studying MBBS in a Medical Private college in Dhaka.
 Reyaz-ul-Hassan said his son is innocent and on September 7 (the day of the blast) Waseem was in Jammu, and had drawn the cash from ATM and made shopping in various malls where CCTV cameras are present and the footage can be assessed to prove his presence in Jammu.
 "My son is innocent and has nothing to do with Delhi blast case," he said.
 “The NIA had requested us to call Waseem from Bangladesh as they wanted to question him”, a close relative of the youth told Greater Kashmir adding, “We were assured that he will not be falsely implicated in any case or harassed”.
  Waseem’s father, who is an employee of NHPC at Kishtwar was reportedly called by NIA, during its previous visit. He, as per the family members, was requested to call back his son to assist NIA in investigation.
  “We were shocked to hear claims made from some news channels that Wassem was arrested from Indo-Bangla border and he is a key link in the blast probe,” family members added.
 Pertinently, a section of press on Thursday had reported that NIA sleuths have arrested a Kashmiri medical student, who is alleged to be a 'key link' in the conspiracy behind the Delhi High Court blast in September which killed 15 people and injured over 70.
 There was no official word on whether Wasim was arrested or he was handed over by his family to NIA. 
 Of the three people arrested earlier by the NIA in connection with the Delhi blast, one has been let off.
 Hailing from Kishtwar district of Jammu, Wasim, according to sources, was also quizzed about the whereabouts of his brother Junaid Akram, who is a Hizbul Mujahideen operative and is believed to be one of the key conspirators in the Delhi blast.(GKNN/PTI)

Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 8 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST