The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested a resident of Kendrapada in Odisha, Habibur Rahman, on the charge of being a handler of Pakistan-based terror outfit lashkar-e-Taiba (leT).
As per an NIA release, Rahman, who is currently based in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, was arrested from the IGI Airport in New Delhi and was produced in the Patiala House Court on Monday fortaking him in remand for interrogation.
Reports said Rahman was one of the handlers of leT terrorist Shaikh Abdul Naeem, alias Nomi, who was arrested in 2007 while trying to sneak in two Pakistani and one Kashmiri terrorist into India via Bangladesh.
According to the NIA, Rahman, who is affiliated to the leT, arranged shelters, hideouts and funds for Nomi on different occasions for carrying out terrorist activities in India on the directions of the leT commander Amjad alias Rehan, who is based in Pakistan.
Nomi was arrested by the NIA in November 2017 and has been chargesheeted along with 10 other co-accused including Rahman.
Meanwhile, Odisha in-charge DGP Satyajit Mohanty said that if the NIA asks for help, the Odisha police are ready to investigate the roots of Rahman in the State. The Special Task Force of the Odisha Crime Branch is already in contact with the NIA regarding the matter.