Help pours in from abroad for Gaya cyber cafe owner who caught terror suspects

Financial help is pouring in from abroad for a cyber café owner and publisher, whose business has been crippled for fear of retaliation after he caught the terror suspect of 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts at Gaya about a fortnight back.

Staring at penury, Anurag Basu is today unsure how to pay the school fees of his son Shivam and the monthly rent of his house and cyber café at Gaya, 100 km south of Patna.

“After reading a report on my plight, Indians settled abroad have called up, asked about my business and also offered financial support,” Basu told HT on Wednesday.

HT had carried a report, ‘Gaya cyber café owner who caught terror suspects turns pauper,’ on Monday.

“Rahul Kumar, a native of Gaya and working with a multi-national company in London, had called up on Tuesday and offered monetary support. Kumar has launched a collection campaign for me and transferred Rs 26,000 in my bank account on Wednesday. The collection drive is still underway and Kumar has promised to provide more fund to re-start my business.” Basu said.

“Raj Rajendran, who is settled in the USA, has also promised financial assistance. Soon after going through the HT report on its website, Rajendran searched my contact details in Google and called me up. He has sought my bank account number to support him financially through an NGO he had floated with his European and South Asian friends. The NGO, South Asian Military Support Network, helps Hindu soldiers employed with armies in Europe and South Asia,” Basu said.

A software engineer, who graduated from the BMS Engineering College, Bengaluru, and secured his master’s degree from University of Texas, was currently employed in the department of homeland security in New York, Basu added.

Overwhelmed by the support from unexpected quarters, Basu said it had injected a fresh energy in him. “I will continue to take risk for the sake of my nation,” he said. However, Basu expressed “shock” at the behavior of social activists and political leaders. “No social activist or political leader has visited me or called me on phone to extend help,” he said.

Meanwhile, the master computer at his cyber café, which the police had seized as part of the investigation, was returned to Basu on Tuesday. Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Garima Malik had also called Basu for a meeting on Tuesday and assured all cooperation to re-start his cyber café at the earliest. After the meeting, Basu said he had no complaints against the SSP. “She was first to recognize my efforts and promise an award for my valour and courage,” he said.

Basu had chased and caught two terror suspects at Gaya on September 13. Tauseef Khan alias Atik Khan, an accused in the Ahmedabad blast, was one of men. The blast had killed 56 people and injured more than 200..