Indian-origin woman arrested, charged as part of UK anti-terror raid

Zee Media Bureau

London: The police in the United Kingdom have arrested an Indian-origin woman banker from London, in what is being dubbed an anti-terrorism operation. Kuntal Patel, employed at the Barclays Bank in Canary Wharf, was arrested on Sunday and subsequently charged with attempted murder following a raid at her east London home. The raid was conducted by the Metropolitan Police`s Counter Terrorism Command. Kuntal, 36, is the daughter of magistrate Meena Patel, who sits on the bench at Thames Magistrates` Court in east London. "Kuntal Patel…has tonight been charged with attempted murder following an investigation by the Counter-terrorism Command. She is due to appear in custody at Westminster magistrates court tomorrow, Thursday, 30 January," the police said in a statement yesterday. A Met Police statement had earlier stated that inquiries were “ongoing as part of an intelligence-led pre-planned operation". Ron Manley, a local councillor who has known the Patels for more than 20 years, described them as an "upstanding family". "Meena is a magistrate and used to work for a local authority, Kuntal works in the City and her younger daughter Poonam is a pharmacist. They are a Hindu family and I`ve known the two girls since they were at primary school. They have always been very polite, very nice girls," he told `The Daily Telegraph`. The son of Foreign Office diplomat Nicholas Sutcliffe, James, was also arrested as part of the operation earlier but has been released without charge triggering claims that counter-terror officials may have raided the wrong house. (With PTI inputs)