Indian doctor's family says he was coming to see baby daughter

Jul 4, 2007, 11:51 GMT

New Delhi - Family members of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, who has been detained in Australia in connection with the failed bombings in London and Glasgow, said Wednesday that he had no fundamentalist leanings and was coming home to see his 10-day-old daughter.

Reports in the Indian media quoted members of Haneef's family, fellow students and acquaintances as saying he was a quiet and meritorious boy who worked hard to support his family which lives in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

The 27-year-old doctor, who was a registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital in eastern Queensland in Australia, was arrested by counter-terrorism police at the Brisbane International Airport on Monday night, where he was trying to board a flight to India with a single-way ticket.

'We presume it was an emergency visit since his baby who was born 10 days ago was suffering from jaundice,' Sohaib, Haneef's bother, was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.

Haneef had named his baby Haniya and was excited over meeting her, his sister Sumayya said.

Haneef had graduated from Bangalore's BR Ambedkar Medical College in 2002 after which he left for Britain for further studies. He joined the Australian hospital about 10 months ago.

While at medical school in Bangalore he lived in a one-bedroom apartment with his mother, brother and sister for three years. His father had passed away while the children were teenagers.

'All his family members were very decent. Haneef was the responsible person in the family looking after all of them,' their former landlord was quoted as saying by Times of India newspaper.

'All of us wish to emulate him because he rose from humble beginnings to earn meritorious scores in college and even moving overseas to hold a good post,' Haneef's brother Sohaib said.

Asked about his religious inclinations, Sumayya said: 'You could not describe him as an overly religious person. He offered prayers (namaz) five times a day, read the holy Quran and visited the mosques just like any other Muslim would. He did not go overboard with anything. We follow the basic Islamic teachings and adhere to them as any other Indian Muslim family would.'

Haneef's fellow students at medical school remember him as a quiet and simple person who did not mingle much. At least two students and a teacher said he seemed somewhat depressed in his last year at medical school.

'He looked like a guy who had taken fun out of his life,' said Manik Prabhu, who is now pursing a postgraduate degree in Delhi.

Haneef's family said the Australian embassy in New Delhi had contacted them for some information and said that the young man had been detained for questioning and had not been arrested.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Indian mission in Sydney was closely monitoring the case. He said the mission would get full information in a couple of days.

India's junior minister for external affairs, E Ahamed, said the Indian doctor detained in Australia had been advised to have legal counsel during his questioning.