I feared they were going to kill us all, says man shot by police

A MAN shot in the chest during a dawn raid on his home by anti-terror police told yesterday how he feared his family were going to be killed "one by one".

Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, broke down in tears as he described being wakened by his younger brother's screams as 250 police stormed his house in Forest Gate, London, on 2 June.

"I thought, one by one they're going to kill us. At that time, I thought I was going to die," he told a news conference.

He said he was shot and kicked in the face, before police officers dragged him downstairs and outside, slapped his face and told him to "shut the f*** up". He was then taken to hospital where he was given morphine and where he said surgeons were "pressured" by police to release him.

Speaking about his ordeal for the first time, Mr Kahar, a Royal Mail driver and part-time supermarket worker, described being hit in the chest by a bullet as he and his brother set off downstairs to investigate what they thought were armed robbers.

"I saw an orange spark and a big bang," he said. "There was blood coming down my chest. The first words I said to them was 'I can't breathe', and the first words they said to me were 'shut the f*** up'."

Mr Kahar and his brother Abul Koyair, 20, were detained for a week in high security police cells over suspicions they had a chemical bomb in their home. They were released without charge last Saturday. "This has ruined my life," Mr Kahar said.

Mr Koyair, a supermarket worker, said he feared police were trying to "murder" his brother.

The British-born Muslims, of Bengali origin, have always maintained their innocence, and yesterday they demanded a full apology from the police, although they stopped short of calling for the resignation of Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

"I believe the only crime I have committed is being Asian and having a long-length beard," Mr Kahar said.

He added that he was not interested in financial compensation but in bringing the officers responsible to justice.

Last night, the Metropolitan Police issued an apology.

Andy Hayman, its assistant commissioner for specialist operations, said: "I am aware that in mounting this operation we have caused disruption and inconvenience to many residents in Newham, and more importantly those that reside at 46 and 48 Lansdowne Road. I apologise for the hurt that we may have caused."

Police searched the two properties but did not find the chemical device which "very specific intelligence" had indicated was there.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission's investigation into the raid is ongoing.

Tony Blair's official spokesman maintained that the Prime Minister stood by his support for the police 101 per cent.

"If the police and the security agencies had failed to act on the intelligence they received, then people would quite rightly have been critical," he said.