The National Investigation Agency has sent a request to the Malaysian authorities seeking information under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on a Sri Lankan national who following his arrest there purportedly revealed a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan’s ISI to target the U.S. Consulate in Chennai and the Israeli mission in Bangalore.
“At this stage, we do not know much about the Sri Lankan national, Mohamed Hussain Mohamed Sulaiman. Before asking for his extradition, we need to have a sound case against him,” said a senior NIA official, adding that a red-corner notice had already been issued against him through the Interpol.
The NIA may soon initiate efforts to quiz the suspect to gather more details on the conspiracy.
The plot was unearthed after the Malaysian authorities tipped-off the Intelligence Bureau. The Tamil Nadu Police initially >arrested another Sri Lankan national Zakir Hussain on April 29, 2014. During interrogation, he purportedly disclosed that apart from running a counterfeit currency racket, he was also part of the conspiracy to carry out attacks at the consulates.
The accused revealed the name of his handler as Amir Zubair Siddique, an official at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo. However, Pakistan refuted the charges. The module had also conducted reconnaissance of the two consulates to plan the “suicide” attacks that were to be carried out by two persons who, as planned, were to sneak in through the sea route from Maldives. “The photographs of the probable targets were found stored in a laptop seized from Zakir Hussain.”
Along with Zakir Hussain, the Tamil Nadu Police had also arrested Mohammed Salim and another Sri Lankan national named Sivabalan for their alleged role in the counterfeit currency racket. “Hussain dealt in fake notes to generate funds for terror activities,” said the official.
Indian agencies have shared details of the findings with the U.S. and Israeli missions. The Sri Lankan authorities have also been briefed on the developments in the case.
Published - August 17, 2014 05:07 pm IST
