HYDERABAD: Two LeT operatives, Imran Malik alias Imran Khan and his brother Mohammad Nasir Malik, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Hyderabad on Wednesday were part of a conspiracy hatched by top operatives of the proscribed terrorist organisation LeT to execute terror acts across India, according to police.
Imran Malik and Mohd Nasir Malik, who were stationed at Mallepally area, hail from Kairana in Shamli of Uttar Pradesh. “The case was originally registered with the railway police of Darbhanga on June 17, relating to an explosion in a parcel on platform 1 of Darbhanga railway station. It was found that the parcel was booked in Secunderabad and arrived in train number 07007, Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express. On June 24, the New Delhi unit of NIA had re-registered the case and had taken up the investigation.
“For about 12 days, the CI cell, the government railway police and officials of NIA were questioning the suspects and collected both technical and physical evidence from them. After the visit to the scene of crime and development of key inputs by the investigation team of NIA, the accused persons were arrested,” an official release said.
Sources said that a sticker of a shop was found by the NIA officials on the parcel bomb that was recovered from Darbhanga railway station. The NIA traced the shop to Hyderabad and reached out to the shopkeeper who later identified Imran and Nasir. Imran Khan resided with his wife in Hyderabad, who was intercepted first by the NIA, leading to the arrest of Imran. Meanwhile, Mohammad Nasir confessed that he travelled to Pakistan in 2012 and was trained there for four months at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He specialised in IED blasts and timer devices. He also met Hafeez Saeed and the underworld don Tiger Memon there.
The preliminary investigation in the case and an examination of the accused persons revealed a transnational conspiracy hatched by top LeT operatives to execute terror acts across India and cause large scale damage to life and property, the NIA said, adding that the duo, along with Mohammed Haji Saleem Kashim and his son Mohammed Kafeel of Kairana and their handler from Pakistan, were named as accused in the case.
Acting under the directions of Pakistan-based handlers of LeT, Malik brothers fabricated an incendiary and packed it in a parcel of cloth and booked the same in a long-distance train from Secunderabad to Darbhanga. “The attack was aimed to cause an explosion and fire in a running passenger train resulting in huge loss of lives and property. Nazir, along with his brother Imran was in touch with Pakistan-based handlers of LeT over encrypted communication platforms,” the release added.
Later, a team of NIA from their New Delhi unit flew to Hyderabad and took custody of the Malik brothers from the Counter Intelligence (CI) Cell of Telangana police’s intelligence wing. The arrested accused were produced before the special NIA Court in Patna after obtaining transit from the competent court. Detailed examination of the accused and investigation continues to unearth the larger conspiracy, the release said.
