With Mohammed Asif Ali, the Indian doctor detained along with Mohammed Haneef in Australia on suspicion of involvement in the UK terror plot, being released without any charge today, the families of two other detained doctors from Bangalore had their fingers crossed, hoping for early and “honourable” release of the duo from custody.

Dr Zakia Ahmed, mother of Sabeel Ahmed, the 26-year-old arrested in Liverpool on June 30, said: “I spoke to him almost everyday. The last time we spoke I told him to take care. I told him lots of things were happening in the UK. It was Friday I think. He said he was safe, busy at work.”

Sitting in the living room of their upper middle-class home in south Bangalore, Sabeel Ahmed’s elderly parents, Maqbool Ahmed and Zakia, a highly respected doctor couple, said they were shocked when their son called from the UK this Monday to say he had been arrested and was seeking arrangement of legal help.

“We just had a couple of minutes to talk to him. He did not say on what basis he was arrested. We only had time to inquire about his health,” Dr Zakia said.

She said her discussions with friends in UK suggested “there is not much against him”. “It will, however, take some time for him to be cleared, we were told. He will be released honourably, I know, I am his mother,” said Dr Zakia who until recently ran a nursing home with her husband in south Bangalore. They have two other children — a younger son pursuing a PhD and daughter.

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