THE police and intelligence services were last night trying to pin the blame for a bungled anti-terrorism raid on each other as criticism of the operation continued.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the shooting of Muhammad Abdul Kahar, 23, who was freed by Scotland Yard at the weekend after seven days of questioning. He was shot in the shoulder as 250 officers stormed his family’s terraced home in Forest Gate, East London.

One Sunday newspaper suggested that police had been so unhappy with the quality of intelligence from M15 that Cabinet Office officials were aware of the doubts. But a rival briefing to a newspaper pinned the blame directly on the police, with a claim that the source of the tip-off was a known British informant who had contacted Scotland Yard directly.

Murad Qureshi, a Labour member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, told The Times: “There seems to be a conflict there between police and MI5. That needs to be sorted out as soon as possible. We need to be seen to have our head on in the whole way we go about doing these raids from intelligence-gathering.

“We will need raids to combat potential attacks as the best preventative measure. We can’t get it wrong this spectacularly. Do we really need 250 coppers in all the gear to arrest two people in one house?” Hundreds gathered outside Scotland Yard for a hastily arranged protest against the “criminalisation of the Muslim community”.

Mr Qureshi, the first Bangladeshi member of the London Assembly, spoke as he returned from a visit to Forest Gate. The victims of the botched raid also had their origins in Bangladesh. “It’s a lot calmer and together than one gets the impression from TV,” Mr Qureshi said. “Local residents don’t want the whole issue hijacked by political extremists. A lot of people want to get on with their lives.

“We are hearing it was a local mole or whatever, but who is to know that this local mole didn’t have something against the brothers? We do need to clarify it with other sources before we go off on one.”

Mr Kahar and his brother, Abul Koyair, 20, were freed after police sought and won extra time to question them on suspicion of being involved in a chemical plot.

Worrying questions emerged when the brothers’ solicitor, Gareth Peirce, described the scene when the house was invaded at 4am. Some of the squad were dressed in anti- contamination suits to protect against chemical, biological and nuclear agents.

She claimed that officers failed to give a warning or identify themselves as police. “The family thought they were armed robbers wearing helmets with their visors pulled down,” she told The Observer. “Nobody identified themselves as police as they stormed in wearing terrifying black hoods and started bashing them over the head. They only realised they were officers when they saw the word police on their backs.”

Mrs Peirce said that the brothers would begin legal action for damages against the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair. “But it will not be enough; the emotional damage will be enormous,” she said. “Some individuals never recover from an incident like this.”

Police commanders organising raids are haunted by the tragedy of Stephen Oake, the officer stabbed to death when cornering Kamel Bourgass in a Manchester flat in 2003.

Although Bourgass was wanted in connection with a suspected chemical weapons plot, Detective Constable Oake was protected by nothing more than a rugby shirt and anorak. He and another officer had been left in a room with a wanted international terrorist.

In terrorism and espionage cases, the Metropolitan Police’s Special Branch works to information from MI5.

Intelligence about the existence of a chemical-based explosive device is said to have led police to the house in Forest Gate. Nothing of that nature was found. Police sources have said that the intelligence would continue to be developed.

dkennedy@thetimes.co.uk

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