Brother of slain 'IM operative' for high-level probe

Brother of suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui, who was murdered at the Yerawada jail in Pune recently, has sought the intervention of President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia for a high-level probe into the incident.

"I request the President, prime minister and the chief justice of India to intervene to help us to get justice by ordering a high-level probe into the murder of my brother," said Shakeel Siddiqui, Qateel Siddiqui's younger brother.

Shakeel, in his early 20s, told rediff.com in Patna on Tuesday that his brother was innocent, but was killed to suppress this fact before he could be released to the court.

"It was a conspiracy of the Maharashtra ATS, the Mumbai Police as well as the Intelligence Bureau to eliminate him to save their skin. My brother was murdered in the judicial custody -- that itself exposes their role. How was a terror suspect lodged in a cell killed by some inmates? It is a cooked up story. We want a high-level probe into it," Shakeel said.

Shakeel said that he was expected to meet his brother when he was scheduled to be produced in the court, but he was unfortunately killed before that. "I will never forget it, it's a life time pain," he said.

"If my brother was involved in terror activities, why police and intelligence agencies did not come up with charges against him?" he asked.

He disclosed that there were numbers of serious injuries on his brother's body when it was brought to his native village in Bihar's Darbhanga district. "His body was not normal after postmortem as every vital part was damaged."

"The murder of my brother in judicial custody has made the role of jail authorities and police suspicious. It is for the top brass of the central government to provide justice to us," he said.

Shakeel disclosed that his brother's murder in judicial custody has ended the hope of his family. "We have lost our dream; my parents are shocked and shattered. My brother's pregnant wife is half dead with grief," he added.