New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Habibur Rahman, one of the handlers of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Shaikh Abdul Naeem, after he was deported from Saudi Arabia.
Rahman was arrested by NIA on August 5 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi upon arrival from Saudi Arabia. He was initially arrested in 2007 while trying to infiltrate two Pakistani and one Kashmiri terrorists into India through Bangladesh.
NIA, in a statement, said it had received an input about Rahman travelling to India, but officials in the know of the development said it was an example of cooperation between security agencies of the two countries.
“Naeem ditched the police and escaped from custody while he was being taken for court attendance to Maharashtra from Kolkata in August 2014. The escape from custody emboldened Naeem, who kept playing cat and mouse games with agencies for about three years during which he continued with his nefarious activities on the directions of his handlers based in Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia,” the NIA added.
Rahman was produced in Delhi’s Patiala House Court earlier in the day to seek NIA custody for his interrogation.
In order to execute the conspiracy, the official said, “Naeem assumed different fake identities and visited different states including Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, and did reconnaissance of possible targets for terrorist attacks. Habibur Rahman, who is affiliated to proscribed terrorist organisation LeT, arranged shelter/hideouts and funds for Naeem on different occasions for carrying out terrorist activities in India on the directions of the LeT commander Amjad alias Rehan who is based in Pakistan”.
Naeem has been chargesheeted along with 10 other co-accused including, Rahman, by the NIA. (ANI)