NIA arrests proclaimed offender in Sri Lankan-Pak espionage case
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested a proclaimed offender, who had absconded after jumping bail in the Hyderabad espionage case involving a Sri Lankan and a Pakistani national.
Nuruddin alias Rafi, who was carrying cash reward of Rs. 5 lakh, was nabbed from Rajiv Nagar of Mysuru, Karnataka today by an NIA team. Following his arrest, a house search was also conducted and several incriminating materials, including mobile phones, laptop, pen drives, drone, etc., were recovered.
A non-bailable warrant was issued earlier against Nuruddin when he had failed to appear before the NIA Special Court, Chennai, after being released on bail under stringent conditions in August 2023. The Court had declared him a proclaimed offender (PO) on May 7, 2024.
The case (RC-02/2014/NIA/HYD) relates to a terror conspiracy by Sri Lankan national Muhammed Sakir Hussaien and Amir Zubair Siddique, a Pakistani National employed at Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They had conspired to carry out explosions at the US Consulate in Chennai and Israel Embassy in Bengaluru in 2014.
NIA investigations have revealed that Nuruddin was involved in financing the anti-national espionage activities through High Quality Fake Indian Currency Notes at the behest of the accused Pakistani national.
Trial against Nuruddin, which was stalled after he had absconded, will now resume.