GUJAR KHAN, May 1: Relatives of Waheed Mahmood, who was jailed for life in London on Monday for plotting terror attacks across the UK, have described him as a peaceful and pious man.

They said that although he prayed regularly, he had no contact with extremists or orthodox people during his stay in Pakistan.

“We were surprised and shocked at Waheed’s conviction,” said Chaudhary Manga Khan, Mr Mahmood’s maternal uncle, while talking to this correspondent at his home in Dongi village, about three kilometres off the G.T. Road.

Stressing that Mr Mahmood could never take part in a terrorist plot, Chaudhry Khan said that he was never an extremist. Some years ago he visited the village to build his house but stayed only for a few weeks before returning to England because of his son’s illness, he said.

He also said that he had not noticed anything suspicious during his stay in Pakistan.

Chaudhry Manga said that Waheed Mahmood’s grandfather had immigrated to the UK to earn his livelihood, adding that his nephew had married one of his cousins, whose parents lived in the UK.

Mr Mahmood’s 100-year-old maternal grandmother Maqbool Bibi, who appeared to be in a state of shock, briefly talked to this correspondent from the half-opened doorway of her son’s (Chaudhry Manga) house.

She said that her grandson was a very loving child.

She said that neighbours and people from all over the area were coming to her to express their sympathy after hearing about her grandson’s conviction.

Most of the people who knew Mr Mahmood and his family said that they were peaceful people who minded their own business.

They also said that during his stay in the village, Mahmood had lived a normal and peaceful life and his outdoors activity had been limited to going to a nearby mosque five times a day.

Surrounded by wheat and vegetable farms, the unusually large house of Waheed Mahmood is located near his maternal uncle’s house.

Mr Mahmood’s relatives hoped that he would be able to file an appeal in higher courts and that one day, he would return and live in the new house he had built in his village.