‘He (Yasin) is fair,goodlooking and from a nice family. Zahida se nikaah karaa denge iska’

Irshad is among the six alleged members of a terror module recently arrested in a pan-India operation and accused of involvement in terror attacks in Pune,Bangalore and Delhi. He was picked up in Chennai on November 27. He is on transit remand,and Delhi Police have announced a reward of Rs 15 lakh for Yasin.

When The Indian Express reached the Shaheen Bagh house,Irshad’s wife Mehajani Khanum was in the middle of her namaaz. “It’s ok,I have another hour,” she said,opening the door. Clad in a blue sequinned kurta and red salwar,she sat on a plastic chair,arms crossed,a vacant look on her face. A white bulb in the corner flickered on and off. Three chairs,a handpump and a big cardboard piece stood against the wall.

“My shauhar (husband) and Shahrukh (an alias for Yasin) left on the 20th saying they had some work at the factory. Eleven days later,around 11.30 pm,the police came knocking at the door,my husband with them. They ransacked the whole house and were about to leave when I stopped them requesting for a mulakaat with my husband for two minutes,” she says,tears streaming down her eyes.

All she could ask Irshad was: “Yeh sab kya hai (What’s all this)?” Mehajani says he replied “Pata nahin (I don’t know).” She claims the police also took away Rs 30,000 cash,a cooker and Yasin’s clothes.

While Mehajani finds the charges against her husband hard to believe,she has her doubts about Yasin alias Yasin Ahmad Siddibappa alias Shahrukh. Since April 1,when Zahida and Yasin got married in a “quiet ceremony”,says Mehajani,“He started living with us. He was a bit strange and never spoke much to my daughter,let alone me. He and my shauhar would leave for work and return whenever they wanted… I can’t believe my husband was involved. It has to be only Shahrukh.”

Still,Mehajani admits there are things she is just finding out about Irshad,her husband of 32 years. “They told me their factory is in Noida,” she says. Illiterate,she learnt it was in Nangloi only through television after news broke of Irshad’s arrest.

“He (Irshad) would often leave the house at odd hours but never told me where he was going. He never even gave me a contact number. He believed women should do household chores and not interfere too much in husbands’ affairs.” They would travel on a motorcycle,the papers of which are now with the police.

Yasin behaved no differently with Zahida. “Shahrukh never gave my daughter his phone number. They would be gone for days,while my children and I would sit at home and wait for them,” Mehajani admits.

Zahida,the mother adds,has been unwell for days. “She is down with fever and has been throwing up.”

Natives of Samastipur in Bihar,Irshad and Mehajani moved to Delhi 17 years ago. They have 10 children,six girls and four boys. It was around eight years ago that the two moved into this 32-yard,three-storey house. “Before this,we lived in Muradi road,behind Batla House,for six years,” says Mehajani.

“We had seen them around,but they never interacted too much,” the neighbours told The Indian Express. “The women kept to themselves while the men were seen coming home occasionally.”

After Zahida and Yasin got married,Irshad and Mehajani left the ground floor to the couple. Pointing to a room behind her,next to a metal staircase leading up to the attic,Mehajani says: “This was where he stayed with Zahida… We never interfered in their matters. Zahida cooked her own food here.”

The door opens to reveal a ransacked room with a low ceiling. Furniture lies toppled,including two table fans,a white and green mat,a rickety bed,a purse,a small white locker with a bottle of cream and some plastic bags,and an MI6 A1 rifle box. It once contained a metal toy gun. “I don’t know where it is now,” Mehajani says.