NEW DELHI, Oct 22:
Saudi Arabia has handed over to India a suspected LeT operative, who was wanted by Kerala Police in connection with a 2009 explosive haul case.
A Rayees, believed to be an associate of banned Pakistan-based terror outfit’s member Thadiyantavide Nazir, was deported to Mumbai where he was arrested by Kerala Police about a fortnight ago.
“Rayees was deported by Saudi Arabia and Kerala Police took his custody,” Union Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters.
Rayees was named as the third accused in a case relating to seizure of ammonium nitrate from Chakkarakkal in Kannur in 2009. During the period of investigation, he had slipped out to Saudi Arabia.
Ammonium nitrate, a controlled commodity, is frequently being used by terrorists to carry out blasts.
Highly placed sources said Rayees was first arrested in the Gulf country for alleged visa violation and he was deported when he completed his sentence there.
A suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Fasih Mohammed was arrested by Delhi Police today after his deportation by Saudi authorities.
Before the deportation of Rayees and Fasih, Saudi Arabia had deported Abu Jundal, an alleged handler for the terrorists who ravaged Mumbai in India’s worst-ever terror attacks in November, 2008.
After five months of detention in Saudi Arabia, Fasih Mohammed, a suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist and an accused in the Delhi and Bangalore blasts, was today arrested after he was deported from the gulf country.
Fasih, hailing from Bihar and an engineer by profession, was sent in a routine civilian flight and was placed under arrest upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport this morning.
India had sought his deportation from Saudi Arabia. It had also got an Interpol Red Corner notice issued against him. 28-year-old Fasih was detained in Saudi Arabia in the first week of May this year.
“It is a very important catch. He was deported by Saudi Arabia,” Union Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters here.
He said Fasih was the “key facilitator” for 13 Indian Mujahideen terrorists who were arrested from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and a few other places late last year.
Suspected to be a member of the banned outfit Indian Mujahideen, Bihar-born Fasih is alleged to have been involved in the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore and the shooting near Jama Masjid (Delhi), both in 2010, and is wanted by Delhi and Karnataka police.
Syed Zabiuddin alias Abu Jundal, a key planner of 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, was also deported from Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
After Jundal’s deportation, the Saudi authorities had objected to the media coverage about it. A delegation from the Gulf country had also met National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and is believed to have objected to various “leaks” to journalists.
Saudi Government handed over Fasih only after getting several documents from India including the statements of the alleged Indian Mujahideen members who had been arrested by the Delhi Police over the last year, sources said.
His name had cropped up during the interrogation of suspected IM terrorists arrested during the last one year.
While the Saudi authorities confirmed his detention there, they conveyed that they were closely examining his role and stay in that country.
Fasih’s wife Nikhat Parveen had approached the Supreme Court claiming that her husband was in the custody of Central security agencies, a charge denied by the Government.
The Home Secretary said India had submitted “material evidence” against Fasih to Saudi Arabia to press its demand for deportation for his involvement in various terrorists acts in the country.
“He (Fasih) was deported after he had served a sentence there. Saudi Arabia cooperated with us,” he said.
Singh said Indian officials were coordinating with Saudi Arabia for quite some time by providing documents to prove his Indian citizenship.
“Our officers were in touch with Saudi Arabia. That is how it happened,” he said.
The Home Secretary said Saudi Arabia had never stated that Fasih would not be deported but it took some time.(PTI)
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