Innocent Intel Techie Arrested Helping IBM Friend
By ITBangbug

It’s said, a friend in need is a friend indeed. But does this saying hold good even now? Shaji Yusuf, a techie working with Intel in Bangalore had gone to help his friend, Yaseen Mohammed who was arrested by the Delhi Police in a conversion case. Yaseen is also a software engineer with IBM in Bangalore. But Shaji was also taken into custody for helping his friend. He has been charged for giving support to Yaseen. Now both the software engineers from Bangalore are in a Delhi jail.

Earlier this month, Yaseen’s friend on Orkut, Dr. Madhumita Mishra flew down from Delhi to Bangalore to meet him. Apparently she was influenced by his thoughts and belief in Islam and she wanted to embrace this religion. They are said to have exchanged about 600 mails on spirituality and Islam.

Meanwhile the doctor’s husband Subijay Sinha, who is in Kolkatta gave a missing person’s complaint with the Delhi police but later filed an FIR of abduction and extortion against Yaseen. On 11th September, the police arrested Yaseen from the IBM office in Bangalore and the lady doctor from a madrasa (an Islamic seminary).

Yaseen and Shaji were batch mates in TKM College of Engineering in Kollam, Kerala. When Yaseen came to Bangalore around 2 years back, he got in touch with Shaji and since then the families have been in touch. When Yaseen was arrested, his wife called up Shaji and requested his help.

It is not clear how Shaji landed up in police custody as he had gone with a lawyer only to enquire about Yaseen and present the lady doctor’s affidavit of conversion. He had obtained a copy of the affidavit which she had given to a Madrasa run by one Dr. Mushtaq and his wife in Bangalore, saying that she was accepting Islam on her own will and not out of any compulsion.

Shaji was arrested on 13th September but when the first hearing of the case happened on the 18th September, he was requested to be moved to judicial custody by the Delhi police as they wanted more time to check his e-mails before he could be released. Its over 10 days but even today he is languishing in the Delhi Jail with his friend.

Shaji has been with Intel since 2003 before which he was in HCL, Chennai. His wife is also a software engineer who was till recently with Infosys, Bangalore for about 10 years, last as a Project Manager. She says he has been trapped and is paying the price for his helping nature!

(Techgoss update: Shaji, who works as a techie with Intel, has been granted bail by a Judge.)