Toronto — His lawyer says he is accused of wanting to storm Parliament so he could personally cut off the Prime Minister's head.
But before those wild allegations came to light yesterday, terrorism suspect Steven Chand, a welfare recipient and basement-suite dweller, was better known for roaming east Toronto public schools trying to persuade students to convert to Islam -- a path he took himself.
Mr. Chand was born in Canada into a Hindu family, but converted to Islam in his early 20s and changed his name to Abdul Shakur.
Little is publicly known about what drove Mr. Chand to convert. His parents are divorced, and Mr. Chand's acquaintances say the split troubled him.
His mother and father, who both live in Markham, a suburb north of Toronto, refused to comment on his past.
Whatever his motivation to switch, Mr. Chand is a devout Muslim. He prayed two or three times a week at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in Scarborough, a mosque attended by at least four of the suspects picked up in Friday's terrorism bust, said the mosque's imam, Aly Hindy.
Mr. Chand also wanted to spread the faith. He spent two or three days a week going to local schools, distributing free books and written materials about Islam and encouraging school-aged children to become Muslims, said Mohamed Ally, a friend from the mosque.
Mr. Ally said he heard that some area schools had complained about Mr. Chand appearing on their grounds, but inquiries by The Globe and Mail to Scarborough schools were unable to confirm this.
Two of the youths charged in the sweeping arrests recently converted to Islam, according to friends from Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in Scarborough. One was Hindu, another a Tamil.
Six months ago, Mr. Chand responded to an ad at the mosque and moved into a basement suite in the home of Mohammad Attique, an Islamic book publisher who has five sons, three of them in their late teens.
Mohsin Attique, 17, said he believed that Mr. Chand had a tense relationship with his family, partly caused by his religious conversion.
His mother and adult brother were in the Brampton courtroom yesterday. Mr. Chand listened as his lawyer, Gary Batasar, described allegations against him in an eight-page synopsis from federal prosecutors.
"The allegations are that he wanted to storm Parliament, take hostages, make demands and behead the Prime Minister," Mr. Batasar later said in an interview. He said that the allegations are false.
Mr. Chand faces charges related to recruiting and an alleged training camp north of Toronto.
When Mr. Chand was arrested on Friday, several neighbours of the Treverton Drive residence where he was living said they've been complaining about the home for years.
Several said that ever since the Attique family moved in eight years ago, the nights have been disrupted by mysterious comings and goings at all hours: trucks carrying metal crates, as well as a steady stream of young male visitors.
All of the windows are covered by metal bars, and a shed behind the house was used as a meeting place for young men, said local Councillor Michael Thompson.
In February, Mr. Attique and his company were fined $10,000 after city inspectors charged him with operating a business illegally out of his home.
Mr. Thompson met with Mr. Attique around the time the charges were laid.
"He said the wrath of God was going to come down on me and such, and that I was a devil because I was trying to affect him and his colleagues."
On Saturday, less than 24 hours after Mr. Chand was removed from the house in handcuffs, the home was raided again. A few things were removed, but no more arrests were made.
Mr. Attique said perhaps officers were looking for a friend of Mr. Chand, in his early 20s, who had moved into the basement about a month ago.
The man disappeared after the arrests and never came back, he said, adding that he didn't know the man's name.
With a report from Jeff Gray
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