Brothers in terror raid freed without charge
Stephen Wright
Daily Mail
_______
London (UK):
Two Muslim brothers arrested in a terror raid were released without charge last night in a humiliating end to a week-long investigation.
The men were freed from top-security Paddington Green police station in central London where they had been quizzed over allegations they had plotted a 'poison bomb' attack in the capital.
The decision to free Abul Kahar Kalam, 23 and Abul Koyair Kalam, 20, is a major embarrassment to Anti-Terrorist Branch chiefs.
Last Friday's high-profile operation involved more than 250 Metropolitan Police officers, fire engines, ambulance staff and chemical experts from Porton Down.
The dramatic raid in Forest Gate, East London, came after an MI5 informant drew a sketch of a poison bomb and a vest or jacket that could have been used to smuggle it on to the Tube network or into a pub crowded with World Cup fans.
Abul Kahar was shot in the shoulder during the operation, prompting allegations of police heavy-handedness.
The overall cost of the raid - including officers' salaries and overtime, the bill for sealing off local streets and for ripping apart the terraced home at the centre of the alert - is believed to exceed £500,000.
The Metropolitan Police last night issued a humiliating statement confirming both men have been released without charge. It said the force would pay for the house to be 'restored'.
Police search teams and forensic experts have spent the last week desperately trying to find any trace of the chemical bomb.
As it became clear that the device was not at the property, a rift has developed between police and security services over who was responsible for authorising the raid.
Jun 10, 2006
Stephen Wright
Daily Mail
_______
London (UK):
Two Muslim brothers arrested in a terror raid were released without charge last night in a humiliating end to a week-long investigation.
The men were freed from top-security Paddington Green police station in central London where they had been quizzed over allegations they had plotted a 'poison bomb' attack in the capital.
The decision to free Abul Kahar Kalam, 23 and Abul Koyair Kalam, 20, is a major embarrassment to Anti-Terrorist Branch chiefs.
Last Friday's high-profile operation involved more than 250 Metropolitan Police officers, fire engines, ambulance staff and chemical experts from Porton Down.
The dramatic raid in Forest Gate, East London, came after an MI5 informant drew a sketch of a poison bomb and a vest or jacket that could have been used to smuggle it on to the Tube network or into a pub crowded with World Cup fans.
Abul Kahar was shot in the shoulder during the operation, prompting allegations of police heavy-handedness.
The overall cost of the raid - including officers' salaries and overtime, the bill for sealing off local streets and for ripping apart the terraced home at the centre of the alert - is believed to exceed £500,000.
The Metropolitan Police last night issued a humiliating statement confirming both men have been released without charge. It said the force would pay for the house to be 'restored'.
Police search teams and forensic experts have spent the last week desperately trying to find any trace of the chemical bomb.
As it became clear that the device was not at the property, a rift has developed between police and security services over who was responsible for authorising the raid.
Jun 10, 2006
