Saif’s relatives had objected to his arrest by the Madhya Pradesh ATS in Bhopal on April 12, claiming that the police were mistaken about the youth’s identity. The Uttar Pradesh DGP had then asked the ATS and the Azamgarh police to verify the antecedents of the youth.

During the verification process, the ATS came across five Azamgarh youths with the same name of Saif-ur-Rehman. While two of them are students of Integral University in Lucknow, the third is studying at Delhi University. An extensive probe was conducted to verify the antecedents of all of them.

Besides documentary evidence, the ATS also claimed to have substantiated Saif’s voice in the telephonic conversations with his parents and brother between October 2008 and January 2009 after his name was revealed as one of the IM members. The ATS had put his father’s mobile phone on surveillance and had recorded Saif’s conversation with his mother in which he allegedly confessed about his role in the blasts.

The family’s plea is that the warrant sought from the Jaipur court to arrest Saif carries the name as Saif-ur-Rehman Alvi of 18, Badarka, City Kotwali, Azamgarh district. Saif’s brother Jia-ur-Rehman Ansari claims, “My brother’s name in his Class X and XII certificates is Saif-ur-Rehman Ansari and the address is 246, Badarka, City Kotwali area in Azamgarh.”

ATS DIG Rajiv Sabbarwal said call details corroborated that Saif had not been staying at home and did not even divulge his exact location to his parents. Saif had told his parents and the brother that he was appearing in the engineering exam, but he never attended any of such tests ever, Sabbarwal said.

The DIG said they also have video footage of Saif to corroborate his exact location which he had concealed from his parents. Meanwhile, Jia-ur-Rehman Ansari said, “We are confident that we have enough evidence to prove that the police are mistaken about the identity of my brother.”

At present, Saif is lodged in a Jaipur jail.