Officers of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) thought they could extract information from a key operative of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), who was deported from the UAE last week, on how the terror outfit functioned abroad. The IM is accused of carrying out several bomb blasts in India from 2007 to 2011.
But their hopes were dashed because Abdul Wahid Siddibapa, 35, has chronic diabetes and requires close medical attention. Since he was taken into custody on May 20, NIA officials have not been able to question him. Medical experts from government hospitals are attending on him round the clock. A city court remanded him in seven-day custody.
When he was first detained by the UAE authorities in Abu Dhabi in 2014, Wahid was running a perfume business. “It never occurred to him that he could be arrested.
When the crackdown on the IM apparatus began in India, Wahid was roaming freely in the UAE and he gave shelter to a couple of IM operatives who had fled to Dubai in 2008. It was on the basis of a red corner notice issued by India that he was arrested at the Abu Dhabi airport then,” a senior government official said.
Wahid had been under detention for six months before being released. But he was kept under watch.
He is a close relative of IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal and was providing tactical, material and financial support to IM members in organising terrorist activities. After his release, he started selling shoes in Dubai.
Wahid’s deportation became possible after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UAE in September 2015. Then, India had handed over a list of individuals wanted for terror activities.
High blood sugar“We have kept him under medical attention. His blood glucose level was 380 mg/dl on Monday morning. We cannot afford anything adverse happening to him in our custody,” said the official.
This is not the first time when an ailing accused has come back to India. In 2013, when the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested Abdul Karim Tunda, 74, an alleged bomb maker of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of his kidneys had failed. While in the custody of the Special Cell, Tunda underwent a surgery.
