"We wish to state that given the values and principles with which we have brought up our children, it is impossible to believe that Abdus Subhan would ever indulge in such acts of violence and terrorism," they said.

His parents said Abdus had studied and worked with people from different communities and therefore it was unlikely that he had hatred for them.

Pleading with him to surrender, they said that by concealing himself Abdus would only make himself more prone to further accusations and would become a "soft target" in the event of any other terrorist act in future.

"It is very painful that the media has already passed a guilty verdict against our son even before he has been tried by a court of law," they said.

Their lawyer Solkar said soon after the serial train blasts in Mumbai on July 11, 2006, Abdus ceased to keep in touch with his wife and three children. "He was married in 1999 and lived separate from his parents since 2001," Solkar said.

The family had no knowledge if Abdus was involved in any activities related to SIMI or any other terror group. "As far as his parents know, he had no inclination towards fanatic ideology and was not a religious fundamentalist," Solkar said.

The family is not even sure if he is alive or dead and had made no attempt to contact him fearing action from authorities, he added.

Following the interrogation in 2006, the family had decided not to keep in touch with Abdus as they felt they could get in trouble for doing so. "The family has co-operated with all authorities so far," Solkar said.

... contd.