NIA quizzes Delhi cops over arrest of ultra

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has questioned two senior officers of Delhi Police’s Special Cell in connection with the arrest of Liyaqat Ali Shah, who was presented as a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.

The questioning of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav and Assistant Commissioner Manishi Chandra on Monday came after NIA investigations revealed that the man, claimed to be an accomplice of Shah, who allegedly dumped arms in a hotel room, had given the barracks of Special Cell, Lodhi Road in New Delhi as his address while booking the room.

Shah was arrested on March 20 while crossing the Indo-Nepal border in Gorakhpur with his family. While the family proceeded to Kashmir, Shah was brought to Delhi and arrested. Shah got bail on May 17 and is at present at his home in North Kashmir.

Delhi Police already had egg on their face in the case after the Jammu and Kashmir government and Intelligence Bureau contradicted them, saying that the arrested man was on his way to Kashmir as part of a surrender policy. Delhi Police had claimed that Shah was arrested while he was on way to Delhi to conduct terror attacks.The register of the Haji Arafat Guest House in central Delhi’s Jama Masjid, submitted in the court by the NIA, shows that Sabir Khan Pathan, a native of Shajapur in Madhya Pradesh, had given the Delhi Police address.

Pathan is missing, and now the NIA wants a non-bailable warrant issued against him.
The NIA has already informed the court that the grenades allegedly meant for Shah had no triggering mechanism, and were of Indian origin.

The CCTV footage of a lodge where Shah was supposed to collect arms was damaged, and the sketches prepared about his associate had no basis, said officials.

The two Delhi Police officers were questioned to understand the circumstances leading to the arrest of Shah, who was reportedly returning from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as per the surrender policy of the Jammu and Kashmir government.