August 23, 2006	Wednesday	Rajab 27, 1427

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BAHAWALPUR, Aug 22: “It is our bad luck that he is our relative,” says Alamgir when asked about Rashid Rauf, a British national having Kashmiri roots, who is said to be arrested in Pakistan for his alleged connection with the so-called ‘London plan’.

Supporting a beard, Alamgir, 23, is the younger brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, a fiery cleric who founded the now outlawed militant outfit Jaish-i-Muhammad.

Rashid Rauf’s name popped up soon after the British authorities claimed that a plan to blow up several transatlantic planes bound for the United States from London’s Heathrow Airport had been thwarted. Authorities in Pakistan claimed that Rauf was captured from Bahawalpur and that his arrest helped frustrate the alleged terrorist designs.

Rauf’s wife and that of Maulana Azhar’s elder brother Maulana Tahir are the daughters of Bahawalpur’s prominent cleric of the Deoband school of thought, late Maulana Ghulam Mustafa, who established religious seminary ‘Darul Aloom Madnia’ here in 1965 in Model Town’s B-block.

“None of us would have thought 16 years ago when my brother Maulana Tahir was married to Maulana Mustafa’s daughter that somebody with the name of Rashid Rauf would become our relative after marrying my brother’s sister-in-law,” Alamgir said, adding “neither I nor any of our close aides have ever met him (Rauf)”.

Rauf was said to be married to Maulana Mustafa’s daughter some three years ago and two daughters are born out of the wedlock. After Maulana Mustafa’s demise, his son Maulana Sohaib is said to be looking after the affairs of Darul Aloom Madnia. He was not there when this correspondent visited the seminary. It was said that he was out of town in connection with the annual examinations of the Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia.

When contacted at his cell phone, he clarified (without being asked) that Rashid Rauf had not been arrested from Darul Aloom. He, however, refused to talk further about his brother-in-law Rashid Rauf.

Syed Manzoor Shah, the patron of a girls’ seminary ‘Aljamia-tul-hashmiatul-binat-ul-islam’, is said to be a close acquaintance to the family of late Maulana Mustafa. The house Rashid Rauf bought few months ago in the Model Town’s C-block is hardly a furlong away from Manzoor Shah’s home.

He said that Rauf’s matrimonial proposal was brought by two ‘Kashmiri Mujahadin’ known as Hamza and Obaidullah, who hailed from Basti Malook area of Multan district. Sources in police department say that Basti Malook had once been a stronghold of banned sectarian outfit Lashker-i-Jhangvi.

It is being said that Rauf was on way to Bahawalpur after visiting Basti Malook when he was surprised by the officials of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Coincidently, the news about the arrest of LJ hit man Mataeeur Rehman also came forth simultaneously with the arrest of Rashid Rauf. Rehman was reportedly also nabbed in the proximity of Bahawalpur

He was carrying a head money of Rs10m. It has, however, yet to be known that whether the arrests of Rashid and Rehman are linked or they are just two separate incidents.

Notwithstanding the denial by JM people that Rashid Rauf had no links with their organization, his alleged comradeship with the Kashmiri militants, relationship with Maulana Masood Azhar and his capture from Bahawalpur, an area assumed to be the JM stronghold, are the factors which reveal more than what meets the eye.