Sister describes trauma of Forest Gate terror raid
Sister describes trauma of Forest Gate terror raid
Guardian
Staff and agencies
Tuesday June 13, 2006
The sister of the two men arrested in the east London anti-terror raid today described how she had feared that the family was being attacked by armed burglars.Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, was shot in the shoulder during the raid, which happened in the early hours of June 2. His 20-year-old brother, Abul Koyair, said police did not identify themselves after bursting into the family home in Forest Gate.
The brothers - who deny any involvement with terrorism - were held at Paddington Green police station until being released without charge on Friday.
Their sister, Humeya Kalam, said she had been "petrified" during the operation, in which police were looking for a suspected bomb factory.
Her brothers will speak about their experiences at a press conference later today as pressure on the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, increases.
Ms Kalam said the family were trying to recover from the ordeal, and told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that police had "just stormed in".
"It was pitch dark, then there was light and guns everywhere," she said. "They were dragging innocent people to the floor, guns to their heads, handcuffing.
"I heard doors being smashed, windows being broken. I woke up, opened my door and saw a person dressed all in black, gun pointing towards me.
"I shut the door. The door was banged open and a person shouted: 'On the floor! On the floor!' The next thing I knew, I am on the floor, petrified, handcuffed."
She said the police had not identified themselves "until I left the house".
"I was dragged down the stairs into the police van," she said. "When I saw the police van, obviously I realised these were police. I thought they were armed burglars and I was going to die."
Ms Kalam said the only reason she could think of for the family being targeted in a raid involving 250 police officers was their race.
"We are just a normal, average family. We don't know why this happened," she said. "I'm just as much bemused as everyone else.
"You would not expect to be woken up at four o'clock in the morning with a gun in your face. The only difference, I'm assuming, is that I am not white."
Ms Kalam said she did not see the incident in which her brother was shot, but said he would give details of what happened. She added that the brothers were "not even thinking about compensation at this point".
"I am thinking about my brother's recovery," she said. "Health comes before any sort of money. Money can't restore his health. They are in a considerable amount of pain, both physically and mentally."
The leader of senior police officers in England and Wales yesterday tried to rally support for the Metropolitan police commissioner, saying those rushing to judge Sir Ian - who has faced calls to resign - risked "encouraging" terrorists.
Ken Jones, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said Sir Ian had become a "lightning rod" for the shock and anger that followed the July 7 London bombings.
Both Tony Blair and Ken Livingstone stressed their support for the commissioner yesterday, and the prime minister said he had "complete confidence" in him.
Sir Ian has been under increasing pressure over both the east London the raid and the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by anti-terrorism police at Stockwell underground station, in south London, last year.
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Originally Posted by Gee...(London)
i watched till the bit he goes i work in tesco and im hard working and then some woman rang me from one of the radio stations and yapped away for 25 minutes cos she wants me to come on the radio and talk about islam and hijab and muslims in the media! (How do i manage to get roped into these things alll the time)??!?! 
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