Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Fears of chemical or biological attack triggered terror raid

Guardian

**don't all of us have "hazardous materials in the house"? Under our sinks, in our back sheds...I do notice that the nature of these "hazardous materials" isn't spelled out. Could it be that they raided this man's house and shot someone over something so simple as cleaning supplies? I wonder if this guy has angry neighbours? EG:) **

· Man shot as 250 police swoop on London home
· Two men arrested after MI5 surveillance operation

Vikram Dodd, Hugh Muir and Sandra Laville
Saturday June 3, 2006
The Guardian


Residents pass through a cordon after a police raid in Forest Gate, London. Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty

The raid on an east London house in which police shot a man yesterday was carried out because intelligence suggested that a viable chemical or biological weapon could be inside, according to counter-terrorism sources.

More than 250 officers swooped on the house in the early hours, after a two-month surveillance operation led by MI5. Security sources say the timing of the raid was dictated by fears that an attack on a British target using an unconventional weapon could be staged soon. The shot man and a man believed to be his brother were arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Anti-terrorism police in protective suits were combing the house in Forest Gate for evidence of chemical or biological material to establish whether the intelligence gathered by the security services was correct. The Health Protection Agency said the risk to the public from harmful substances was considered to be "very low".

Up to 11 people, all believed to have Bengali backgrounds, were inside the house when it was raided, and a 23-year-old man was shot by police during a scuffle on the stairs. He was hit in the shoulder by a single shot and police quickly announced his injuries were not life threatening, mindful of the damage to community relations that rumours could inflict. He is not believed to have had a gun.

The shot man was in hospital last night, under armed police guard. Police arrested him and a 20-year-old man who is believed to be his brother. According to information from the electoral roll, land registry and birth certificates, Abul Kahar 23, and his younger brother Abul Koyair, 20, lived at the house.

Eyewitnesses claimed that after the shooting the injured man was carried from the house over the arm of a police officer and placed on the ground, where his wound was bandaged. Neighbours said he was barely conscious and tried to stand but could not support his weight.

The shooting is to be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is already examining another shooting as part of an anti-terrorism operation. In that case last July police shot dead the wrong man after mistaking him for a terrorist. Yesterday officers began a search of the house which could take days. Plans to evacuate residents were scaled back; police would only publicly say intelligence suggested there might be hazardous materials in the house.

Deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the anti-terrorist branch of the Metropolitan police, said: "This operation was planned in response to specific intelligence. As always, our overriding concern is for the safety of the public. Because of the very specific nature of the intelligence, we planned an operation that was designed to mitigate any threat to the public either from firearms or from hazardous substances."

Dimple Hirani, a 21-year-old student, said she knew both brothers. "They were into all of the normal fashions but after 9/11, he [the older brother] distinctly seemed to get more religious and grew his beard. A lot of boys wear traditional dress and there is nothing wrong with that but I noticed the change."

Emerging from prayers, one young man said the brothers had a considerable local reputation. "They were the sort of people who would stop fights and try to avoid violence."

Nimesh Patel, 14, said he was awoken by the 4am raid: "I saw all these police outside and then they went into the house. They were wearing gas masks. They smashed the glass to get in. They brought one man out and you could see he had been shot in the shoulder."