IM operative Fasih Mohammed deported from Saudi Arabia, arrested

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: After 26/11 Mumbai terror attack suspect Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, Saudi Arabia on Monday deported Fasih Mohammed to India. The 35-year-old Fasih Mohammed, accused of being involved in conspiracy of bomb blasts in Bangalore and Delhi, was arrested at Delhi airport after being deported to India from Saudi Arabia. The Delhi Police Special Cell has taken custody of Fasih. "A year ago, he was arrested by Saudi Arabia police, and has since been in custody in that country. Investigative agencies in Delhi were in constant touch with Saudi Arabian authorities for his deportation to India," a senior police official said. Earlier, Saudi Arabia had red-flagged Fasih’s deportation from there, saying it wanted to investigate his role in that country carefully before taking a call on New Delhi’s request for handing him over. Jundal, the 26/11 handler who is in jail in Mumbai, was deported to India by the Saudi authorities in June 2012 as part of enhanced intelligence and security related cooperation between the two countries. An engineer and alleged member of 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) in 2010 and is wanted by both Delhi and Karnataka police. An Interpol red corner notice against Fasih was issued earlier this year after reports of his sudden disappearance. Fasih’s wife Nikhat Parveen had approached the Supreme Court claiming that her husband was in the custody of central security agencies. Parveen had told the court that her husband was picked up by a joint team of Indian and Saudi officials on May 13 for his alleged terror links, a charge denied by the government. The Interpol issued the notice against him for offences of terrorism and crimes involving the use of weapons and explosives, Interpol’s official website says. The name of Fasih, according to the sources in the security agencies, cropped up during the interrogation of the alleged terrorists of banned outfit Indian Mujahideen arrested during the last nine months. (With PTI inputs)