My son is innocent: Riyaz’s mother

Even as the police and the intelligence agencies work around the clock to confirm the news of his assassination, his parents are unaware of his whereabouts

My son is innocent: Riyaz's mother

Even as the police and the intelligence agencies work around the clock to confirm the news of his assassination, his parents are unaware of his whereabouts

In wait: Riyaz's parents Suwaida and Ismail claim that they haven't
heard fromu00a0 their son in the last six years, and don't know if he is in India
or Pakistan.

Wile the police and the Intelligence Bureau is working overtime to confirm the news, his mother Suwaida said, "I don't know what to say. I continue to believe that he is not a terrorist. No one from the police department has contacted us after this news broke out. I haven't been in contact with my son for the past six years and I don't know where he is. Some say he is in Pakistan, while others say he may still be in India. He hasn't even contacted me in the past six years."

There is mixed reaction about the around Bhatkal. Some in the community believe that he is a creation of police's imagination, while others feel that he has changed the very face of Bhatkal by getting into ISI-related activities, which has kept the IB busy in the town.

"We brought him up wellu00a0-- he is an engineer," she had said when this reporter spoke to her on an earlier occasion. It's tough for me, I am a mother after all. With so much being written about him, our relatives don't even want to talk to us."

On their toes
Both the IB and the police are still verifying whether the news is true. The police are trying to verify through some relatives if there had been any contact from his end in the past few days. The police had however managed to confirm that Bhatkal was in Pakistan, based on a couple of calls.

In addition, Salman alias Chotu, an Indian Mujahideen member, had told the Delhi police during his interrogation that Bhatkal had slipped into Pakistan and was living in the Gulshan Iqbal area under ISI's protection, where he is said to have been shot dead.

It may be recalled that Shahid Bilal, a most-wanted fugitive terror suspect, who was wanted by the police in the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Mecca Mosque blast in Hyderabad, was killed in similar fashion in Pakistan. Intelligence agencies initially refused to confirm, but after over a month, admitted that he had been gunned down.

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