Karnataka assassination plot: Deportation of Sufiyan will help probe progress

Bengaluru, Dec 10: The deportation and subsequent arrest of Abu Sufiyan an alleged operative of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in connection with a series of cases including on which involved eliminating prominent personalities in Karnataka comes as a relief for the National Investigating Agency.

Sufiyan was alleged to be part of an assassination plot which involved the killing of prominent personalities including journalists (Karnataka assasination plot: Lashkar operative deported from Saudi Arabia) in Karnataka. This case dates back to 2011 and several persons from Karnataka, Maharashtra and a then unified Andhra Pradesh were arrested.

Probe would move forward

The National Investigation Agency which took over this probe from the Karnataka police while investigating the matter learnt that a meeting was held in Riyadh in which this assassination plot was hatched. In the NIA chargesheet, Sufiyan has been named as the 24th accused.

The NIA had requested the CBI to issue a red corner alert against him. The CBI which is the nodal agency for the Interpol in India got the alert issued and Sufiyan was first detained in Saudi Arabia in the month of October.

Following this the NIA had shared evidence relating to the involvement of Sufiyan in a series of cases which included the assassination plot and also a blast near the Sai Baba temple blast at Hyderabad in 2002.

NIA officials say that he is a key person in this ring and his questioning would be of extreme importance to the probe. The NIA's probe in the assassination plot has not yielded much result as of now.

After the NIA took over from the Bengaluru police two persons had been discharged from the case for want of evidence. They included an employee at DRDO and also a journalist.

The NIA says that several persons involved in this plot which spread between Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are still abroad. Sufiyan will help provide those required details and also tell us more about the conspiracy. Sufiyan is currently in the custody of the NIA for questioning.

OneIndia News