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Lucknow: According to the Lucknow editions of Hinudstan Times (8 September) and Times of India (9 September), a police team raided on 3 September the Nazirabad house of Maulana Khalilur Rahman Sajjad Nomani, member of the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), who is one of the accused in the murder of Gordon Yusuf Carr, a British convert to Islam who was murdered in his Barabanki farmhouse in August 1993. 

According to reports, the Englishman had bought a piece of land from the Raja of Jahangirabad who later refused to give him any receipt or certificate for the transaction. The murder made headlines for some time but soon died down as the case dragged in courts. A CB-CID enquiry was initiated in the case and Maulana Nomani, Raja Jamal Rasool and his manager Ram Avtar Yadav were named as main accused.

A non-bailable warrant had been issued against Maulana Nomani but he managed to get stay from the Supreme Court. The stay expired about a year back but the police could not arrest him. Last month’s raid took place after the Barabanki Fast Track judge Vinod Kumar pulled up the police and ordered a local magistrate to file a compliance report by 21 September. 

Reportedly the police was reluctant to lay hands on Maulana Nomani who is known for his connections in high places. Reportedly the Maulana was present in his house on 3 September when the police arrived but did not dare to enter the house which had a lock from outside. According to reports here, the Maulana has since gone into hiding and has talked to the media through his mobile phone. Reportedly he has applied for surrendering before the court. He was behind the June 2003 fiasco of reviving Kanchi Shankaracharya’s mediation in the Babri issue against the wishes of the majority of AIMPLB members. It was speculated at the time that the Barabanki murder case pressure was behind his controversial moves to please BJP rulers. «