Malaysia deports Lankan national to Colombo, ignores India's plea

New Delhi: A Sri Lankan national wanted in India for allegedly plotting terror strikes at American and Israeli consulates in the country has been deported by Malaysia to the island nation notwithstanding India's plea for his extradition to unravel key aspects of the conspiracy.

Highly-placed sources here said that 47-year-old Mohammed Hussain Mohammed Sulaiman was recently sent back to Sri Lanka by Malaysian authorities without even executing a production warrant issued by a special court in India seeking his extradition.

Sulaiman was deported to Sri Lanka to face murder charges there with Malaysia ignoring repeated requests by India under various treaties, including Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and even those submitted through Interpol.

A production warrant for Sulaiman was also issued and sent through the diplomatic channel for early execution so that the planning behind the botched terror plot could be unravelled.

However, the Attorney General's office in Malaysia did not proceed with the Indian production warrant and instead suggested to its government that it deport Sulaiman to Sri Lanka where he is allegedly facing charges in a murder case.

India had argued to the Malaysian authorities that Sri Lanka did not immediately require Sulaiman's custody and he could be a key to unravelling mysteries behind the botched terror plot wherein ISI-backed groups were planning to target the US consulate in Chennai and the Israeli consulate in Bangalore, the sources said.

This argument failed to cut any ice with the Malaysian authorities who decided to send Sulaiman back to his home country as he had been arrested in an immigration case only.

India had sought Sulaiman's extradition after he was arrested by the Special Unit of Malaysian Police from the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in May.

Sulaiman had allegedly conspired with Sakir Hussain, another Sri Lankan national, who was arrested in India in April and has since been sentenced to five years in jail for the conspiracy.

According to the plot, Sakir was to carry out recce of the two consulates while Sulaiman was to ferry two suicide attackers to India for carrying out strikes at the two places.

India has accused Sulaiman of hatching a "criminal conspiracy; acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention; possession of forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes; terrorist act and raising funds for terrorist acts".

Sulaiman reportedly told investigators in Malaysia that he had been tasked with ferrying two terrorists from the Maldives to the south Indian coast to carry out strikes at the two consulates.

The plot was foiled by effective coordination by Intelligence Bureau (IB) with countries as Malaysia tipped the agency about the alleged conspiracy being hatched from Sri Lanka.

The probe was handed to NIA by Tamil Nadu police so that the conspiracy hatched overseas, including in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, could be unravelled, the sources said.