‘Atif’s sister was unwell... he was supposed to bring her home’

Sarai Meer | New Delhi, September 20: Atif would have come home on September 25. My daughter was unwell and had gone to Delhi for treatment. He was supposed to get her back. He had got the ticket done,” says Raziya Amin, her fingers moving constantly over the rosary she is clutching.

Relatives and friends have been flitting in and out of her house in the middle-class neighbourhood of Sarai Meer, Azamgarh, ever since they heard of Atif Amin’s death in an encounter in Jamia Nagar, South Delhi, on Friday. The gate, half-open to accommodate the stream of visitors, leads to a patch of concrete where Atif’s young nephew plays. Atif’s father, Mohammad Amin, sits in a neighbour’s house, too shocked to speak.

Inside the Amins’ house, Raziya sits with a few relatives in the living room. Sofas and chairs line the room, a big cooler stands at the other end. “How can anybody kill innocent people? Everybody’s life is precious, everyone loves their children. If he was in the right, then let Allah take this daag (blot) away from him,” she says.

There is no anger in her words, only stoicism. “I don’t blame anyone. Nothing happens without the will of Allah, not even a leaf can move without his will¿but Atif was my youngest son,” she adds.

Atif’s relatives say he shifted to Delhi about four years back and enrolled at a computer centre in South Extension for a hardware-training course. Atif’s cousin Ameekh Jaameel, who came from Azamgarh on Saturday morning, says Atif had recently enrolled for an MA course in Human Rights at Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and “that is why shifted to Jamia Nagar”. While the police too say Atif enrolled for the Human Rights course at Jamia, Rumki Basu, Head of the Political Science Department at the University, denied Atif was a student of the department.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police of the Special Cell of Delhi Police, said Atif had produced forged documents of police verification papers, lease agreement, identity cards, license, and voter cards while seeking houses on rent. “One of his identity cards was in the name of Rahul Sharma. He had used that to travel to Rajasthan recently,” Singh said. Before shifting to Jamia Nagar, Atif lived in a flat in Jasola, New Delhi.

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