Imran Shaikh, 22, Usman Agarbattiwala, 24, and an unidentified youth from Vadodara were detained by the Special Operations Group (SOG) for questioning last week. Parents of Imran and Usman say they have not heard from their sons and have no idea where they are.

Officers of the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) picked up alleged SIMI activists Sajid Mansuri and Javed Bengali from Bharuch. Sajid had been absconding since 2001. But Ashish Bhatia, Joint Commissioner of Police, Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), denied the detention. “We have not detained any such person in connection with the case,” he said.

“My husband is innocent and I suspect that the police are up to something as they have not declared his arrest,” says Mansuri’s wife Sazia. Police had been looking for Mansuri ever since a seminar under the banner of the All India Minority Education Board in Surat held in 2001.

Police had received information that several members of the banned SIMI would attend the seminar. They raided the hall, arrested 123 people and seized SIMI membership forms. During investigations, they found that Mansuri had organised the seminar and had sought permission for it.

Raids were conducted at his house but police could not find him until last week. After a tip-off, a team led by Sub-Inspector Munaf Pathan raided a Bharuch house and picked up Mansuri and his wife Sazia. They were first taken to Bharuch DSP’s office and from there to Ahmedabad, says Sazia. She says she waited the whole night outside the office in Ahmedabad while the police were questioning Mansuri.

Sazia says her husband was scared of the police and that was why he was on the run. “I can assure you he is innocent. He was with me during the Jaipur and Ahmedabad blasts, so there is no question of his involvement,” she says. “They picked him on Saturday and they have not yet declared his arrest. His life is in danger,” she says.

A police source said that Imran and Usman were known to be SIMI workers. “They had attended its meetings. They have been taken for questioning and their role in the bomb blasts is being examined. At this moment, I cannot say anything about their role in the blasts. It is a serious issue that requires deep investigation,” said the source.

According to sources, Imran and Usman have been taken to Ahmedabad to be grilled by the Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) which is investigating the blasts case.

Usman used to work in his father’s shop in Wadi selling incense sticks while Imran, the sole breadwinner and the only child of his parents, used to sell clothes from his handcart. His father Ibrahim, who underwent a bypass surgery recently, is too weak to work.

Sitting in their one-room rented house at Wadi, Ibrahim says, “I have no idea what has happened to my son or where he is. The police asked him to come to Panigate last Thursday and since then I have not heard from him. The police say he is being questioned and will be released soon. Why can’t they let him talk to his family?”