Kannur, Wednesday, December 23, 2009: PDP chief Abdul Nasser Maudani’s former aide Mani alias Yusuf who was missing for past nine months turned up before Mattanoor Court today accompanied by PDP activists.

Mani, originally from Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, had given statements to the police which had in effect gone against Maudani, during the investigations into the terror network in Kerala.

Mani’s alleged disappearance had occurred after he was once presented by Madani before the media in Thiruvananthapuram amidst allegations that the Islamist leader had connections with dreaded terror operatives like Abdul Sattar alias Sainuddeen aka Sattar Bhai, said to be explosive expert who had manufactured the bombs for terror acts in Bangalore and elsewhere.

Mani had come into close links with Maudani after they met at the prison in Coimbatore where the latter had been lodged in connection with the case regarding the serial blasts in the Tamil Nadu city.

During questioning, Mani, a witness in the terror-related cases, told the police that Fazeela Begum, daughter of Sainuddeen, was staying with Sufiya, Madani’s wife, in Kochi. This was when Mani was working in the Purdah showroom run by Sufiya.

Madani had denied this, and to establish his argument, he had presented Mani in front of the media during a Press conference in Thiruvananthapuram in the context of the Lok Sabha elections.

The PDP leader claimed that the reports appearing in the Press about Mani’s statement were unfounded and that the alleged statement he had given could have been fabricated. However, the statement of Mani had been prominently quoted in the chargesheet the police had filed in the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Thalassery.