NIA court summons Pakistani official in Sri Lanka over plot to bomb US, Israeli consulates in India – report

The special NIA court in Poonamallee has issued a proclamation, directing a Pakistani official working in the country’s high commission in Sri Lanka to appear before it on October 15, to respond to charges of conspiring to bomb the American consulate in Chennai and Israeli consulate in Bengaluru, Indian media reported today.

The official summoned has been identified as Amir Zubair Siddiqui with a permanent address in Karachi, Pakistan, and working as a visa counsellor in Colombo between 2009 and 2016, The New Indian Express and India Today reported.

According to the proclamation, he faces charges under the IPC and UAPA for offences including criminal conspiracy, waging war against India and using forged or counterfeit notes. The court said he has absconded, according to the reports.

It said that the case was registered by the Q branch CID, Chennai, in April 2014 and later taken up by the Hyderabad branch of NIA. It was following the arrest of a Sri Lankan national, Mohammed Sakir Hussain (Accused 1) in Chennai who had arrived in India as per the instructions of Amir Zubair Siddique (Accused 2) to conduct subversive activities in India, the reports claims.

‘High-quality’ fake Indian counterfeit notes having the face value of `2.5 lakh were seized from Mohammad Saleem (Accused-5) on May 1, 2014.

The first accused in the case Muhammed Sakir Hussain has already been convicted, while in 2018, NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet against Siddiqui, the reports added.

However, responding to a query, the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo told Ada Derana that no one with this name is serving in the Pakistani High Commission.

With Inputs from The New Indian Express and India Today

--Agencies