AP Features, July 10th, 2007
An Indian suspect in the failed terror attack on Scotland's busiest airport once worked as an aeronautical engineer, an official said Tuesday, as an Australian investigator traveled to India to expand the British terror inquiry.
Kafeel Ahmed, 27, is in a Scottish hospital with burns suffered after allegedly crashing a Jeep Cherokee into the Glasgow airport on June 30, a day after police found two unexploded car bombs in central London.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Ahmed worked in Bangalore as an aeronautical engineer for Infotech Enterprises, a large outsourcing firm, from December 2005 to August 2006, said company spokesman K.S. Susindar.
Infotech works with some of the biggest companies in aviation, including Boeing and Airbus, among others _ possibly giving Ahmed access to sensitive design information from the companies.
Susindar declined to comment on whether Ahmed had access to design secrets or what projects he worked on.
"He was a sincere employee and from what I can gather he gave no problems whatsoever," said Susindar.
The services Infotech offered its clients was not immediately clear, but most of the aviation work outsourced to Indian companies includes software support for cabin lighting, display of information in the cockpit, in-flight entertainment and communication.
In some cases, it could involve designing software for flight control systems, navigation and surveillance.
A spokeswoman for Boeing declined to comment. Calls to aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney were not immediately returned, nor were calls to Airbus.
Ajay Prasad, India's former civil aviation secretary, doubted Ahmed worked on any sensitive projects.
Not much aircraft design work "was outsourced by these companies, so I don't think there is any major (danger)," said Prasad. "Unless one has an idea of what kind of work this company was doing for Boeing or Airbus, it's very difficult to say."
Sabeel Ahmed, 26, Kafeel's brother, is being held in Liverpool as a suspect in the terror plot. Sabeel, who worked as a doctor, and Kafeel are among eight people held in the case.
A third Indian, Mohammad Haneef, is being held in Australia for questioning.
Sabeel Ahmed and Haneef both attended B.R. Ambedkar Medical College in Bangalore, where principal B.R. Ramesh remembered them as being well-adjusted and good-natured. Sabeel played soccer for the college and often chatted with friends on campus, he said. He took an extra six months to graduate, Ramesh added.
Sabeel, who studied there from 1998-2003, "was a very friendly and sociable guy," Ramesh said. "Until anything is proven, we can't believe this."
Ramesh said Haneef, who was there from 1997-2002, was an attentive student who carefully took notes during class.
"I can still remember him sitting on the second bench," Ramesh said. "He attended classes very diligently and right after class he would head out to the library."
"They were such good boys," he said.
Media reports have linked the suspects to Tablighi Jamaat, a radical Islamic group, but the imam at a Bangalore mosque associated with the group said he didn't recognize them.
"But on any given day, anyone can come and pray here," said Badrul Islam, imam of Lal Masjid. "Nobody here can remember them."
Meanwhile, an Australian federal police agent traveled to India to continue the investigation, said a spokeswoman for the Australian Federal Police, speaking on a condition of anonymity in line with agency policy.
She would not say where the officer went in India, but she said the officer would be working with Indian officials.
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Associated Press writer Meraiah Foley contributed to this report from Sydney.
