SC seeks govt's reply on plea of terror suspect's wife

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response from the Centre on a plea filed by a woman seeking directions to the government to trace whereabouts of her husband, who was allegedly picked up by Indian intelligence agencies from their residence in Saudi Arabia.

A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar issued notice to the home ministry and external affairs ministry seeking their response by June 1, when the plea of the woman, Nikhat Parveen, would be taken up for hearing.

Advocate Naushad Ahmad Khan, appearing for Parveen, pleaded that the court should direct the government to reveal the whereabouts of Parveen's husband Fasih Mahmood, an engineer, as he was allegedly picked up by Indian officials with the assistance of authorities of Saudi Arabia.

Parveen had knocked the door of the apex court alleging that Mahmood, 29, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, was picked up on May 13, for purported terror links, from their home in Saudi Arabia, where he had been working for five years.

Parveen had earlier said she had written to several authorities including ministry of external affairs and home, Bihar and Karnataka governments, Saudi embassy in India but nobody was telling her anything.

On May 13, according to her, a group of Saudi and Indian officials in civilian clothes allegedly searched their house in Jubail in Dammam, confiscated a laptop and mobile phone and informed them that Fasih has to be deported as he is wanted in India.

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, 22-year-old Parveen, who had married Mahmood in September last year and had joined him in Saudi only in March, first contacted the Indian embassy. Failing to get any information from there, she returned to India on May 15.