NIA Arrests LeT Terrorist Linked To 2007 UK Airport Terror Attack Mastermind

In a major breakthrough, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, who is closely related to the mastermind of the 2007 Glasgow airport attack, after he was brought to India from Saudi Arabia, officials said on Saturday.

According to senior NIA officials related to the probe, Shabeel Ahmed was brought to India late Friday (28 August).

Ahmed had moved from Bengaluru to Saudi Arabia in 2010-11. He was also arrested in connection with the 2007 attack in which a person died, said an NIA official requesting anonymity.

The official said that Ahmed is the cousin of the UK airport attack mastermind Kafeel Ahmed.

Anti-terror probe agency officials said that Ahmed was also wanted in a case registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell in 2015 and was declared a proclaimed offender by a Delhi court on 12 July 2016.

The official said that the role of Ahmed in India came under scrutiny after the Special Cell busted a major AQIS network, with the arrest of Cuttack-based cleric Abdul Rehman and others in December 2015.

According to agency officials, Rehman allegedly told the police that he met Ahmed in Bengaluru in 2009, shortly after the latter had returned from the UK after serving a sentence.

The official added that Ahmed will be produced before a court later in the day in Delhi. He will taken to other places, including Bengaluru, for further investigation on transit remand.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)