Aussie cops under fresh cloud over Haneef's links

Brisbane: Did the Australian police misinform a local court about Mohammad Haneef's links with the foiled UK terror attacks? - That's the question many are now asking after local media reported at least two crucial discrepancies in the police's version to the court.

Haneef reportedly told his interrogators at this Brisbane watch house that he had never lived with failed UK terror plot suspects and his cousins Kafeel Ahmad or Sabeel Ahmad in Liverpool.

But the police told the court that Haneef had admitted to sharing the Liverpool home with his cousins.

A record of Haneef's interrogation also shows that the doctor gave a detailed explanation for his one-way ticket to India. But Haneef reportedly said that he did not have the money to buy a ticket and that his father-in-law had booked and paid for the ticket with an understanding that the doctor would purchase his ticket back to Brisbane. But the police affidavit stated that Haneef could not explain a one-way ticket to India.

And ABC Radio quotes Australian and British police sources as saying that Haneef's SIM card was found on Sabeel when he was arrested after the failed bombings. But the police told the court that the SIM was found in the jeep, which slammed in to the Glasgow airport.

Australia's Immigration Minister had relied on the police's version to the court to cancel Haneef's work visa. The police have not commented on these reports but Haneef's lawyer and wife hope this means a favourable verdict for Haneef.

“Whether or not it is, the ace on the pack, we don't know at this stage. But I mean it's obviously something. It's one of the many things that I was trying to piece together and I hadn't had verification of that at this stage,” says Haneef's lawyer, Peter Russo.

Haneef’s wife, Firdous who lives in Bangalore adds, “The truth is coming out.”

Meanwhile Indian diplomats are also taking serious note of the reported discrepancies. Reliable sources say they will question Haneef to verify these conflicting pieces of information. Diplomatic sources say that the Australian government is not giving them adequate or regular information on Haneef. Should this continue, India will step up pressure on the Australian government.

(With inputs from Parul Malhotra in New Delhi and Deepa Balakrishnan in Bangalore)

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