“Aftab has landed in trouble because of his mobile phone. He used to lend his mobile phone to anybody and everybody. Someone had misused it and this had landed him in trouble,” said Aisa (47), who had come to Lucknow alongwith a relative to meet her son.

She added, “Aftab has no criminal record. This is his first time in jail. You can verify this by visiting our place and talking to neighbours and his colleagues.”

Aisa maintained that six years ago, Aftab had got a job at Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) after the sudden death of his father Abdul Aziz, who was also a CESC employee. Aftab had completed his high school from an English medium school, but dropped out after his father’s death, she said.

“Aftab is my eldest son and also the lone source of livelihood for the family. He has several responsibilities. In such a situation, no one can do such things and invite trouble,” Aisa added.

Her relative, on condition of anonymity, said, “There could be some confusion. The police and media have said that he had two other names, Mukhtar and Raju. But the fact is that everyone in Kolkata knows him as Aftab.” The relative added that there was sufficient evidence to prove that on the day of the blasts, Aftab was in Kolkata. “We are taking out details of his attendance from the office where he works. We will place this before court,” he said.

On December 29, the West Bengal Police had arrested Aftab Alam Ansari on a tip-off from the state police for his alleged involvement in the serial blasts that rocked civil courts in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad on November 23. Officials had claimed that they suspected Aftab to be a HuJI militant.