2 June 2006 Forest Gate Raid

The 2 June 2006 Forest Gate raid saw the arrest of two men at their east London homes in Forest Gate by police acting on what they described as "specific intelligence" that they might be terrorists in possession of a chemical bomb. One of the men was shot during the raid. No explosive devices were found during the raid, nor was there any evidence of terrorist activity. The men were released without charge. Mohammed Abdul Kahar was again cleared, after 44 indecent images of children had been found embedded in the memories of a computer, an external hard drive and a mobile phone recovered during the raid. No charges were filed, as: "The prosecution was not satisfied that Mr Kahar had the necessary computer expertise to enable him ... to transfer the images to the Nokia phone."

Subsequent inquiries cleared the officers involved of any "criminal or disciplinary offence". Metropolitan Police apologised for the raid. The apology was welcomed by the families affected, but they demanded the investigation of the steps the police took to assess the quality of the intelligence leading to the raids.

The cost of the operation exceeded two million pounds.

Read more about 2 June 2006 Forest Gate Raid:  The Raid, Protests, Reactions, Inquiries, Media Representation, Cultural References

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