A team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday questioned a Somali national and his friend in Bihar’s East Champaran district in connection with the twin blasts in Hyderabad. Officials said no terror link was found.
The NIA questioned Abdullah Omar Makarani, a Somali national and his friend Mohammad Abdul Alam, a resident of Hyderabad, for around “five to six hours.” “The interrogation was completed and the team left today [Tuesday],” Superintendent of Police Ganesh Kumar told The Hindu .
They were arrested on February 21 at the Raxaul check post while attempting to enter Nepal without valid documents.
The duo is currently under judicial custody and lodged at the Motihari jail.
Mr. Kumar said media reports linking Abdullah to the terror attacks had disturbed him to a great extent and he ran the risk of losing his German citizenship which he was likely to get shortly.
“He has committed a mistake of not possessing valid documents. But being linked like this to a crime that he has not committed! The NIA is of the view that they have no link with the blast. He [Abdullah] is very disturbed that reports are all over the Internet. There is also a human angle to be considered. He has a German employer and is afraid of losing his job and a German citizenship for which he had applied. He got a call from Germany asking him about his links to terror,” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu .
Abdullah was booked under the Foreigners Act. He had gone to Hyderabad to get married there, the police said. Alam had a forged PAN card and was booked for forgery under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
What raised the suspicion of the authorities was a camcorder that was recovered from the duo. It had footage of the Secunderabad station. However, Mr. Kumar said that was not “sufficient evidence to prove sinister intentions.”
Earlier, the NIA also questioned two students, Mohammad Jaiz and Mohammad Shad, and released them later. The team came to Begusarai when a cellphone belonging to the duo was traced leaving Hyderabad shortly after the blasts. Nothing incriminating was found.
