NIA searches for Special Cell informer who planted arms

Shaurya Karanbir Gurung

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 27

The National Investigation Agency is searching for a man, who according to the agency, is an informer of the Delhi Police Special Cell and had allegedly planted arms and ammunition at a guest house in Old Delhi while being in contact with Special Cell personnel to frame Sayyed Liyaqat Shah, an former militant who had arrived in India from Pakistan to surrender.

The NIA says Sabir Khan Pathan (32), the informer of the Delhi Police’s counter-terror unit, the Special Cell, had mysteriously disappeared after March 25, 2013, when the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had handed over the case to the NIA to unearth the truth. The Special Cell had arrested Shah (45), a native of Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir, on March 20, 2013, after he entered India through the India-Nepal border at Sanuali, Uttar Pradesh the same day.

The Special Cell had then claimed Shah was going to carry out attacks at vital installations in Delhi, which was denied by the NIA in its chargesheet recently. His family also claimed he was a former militant and had arrived in India to surrender, after crossing over to Pakistan in the mid-90s.

The day the NIA was handed over the case Sabir had received his last call on one of his mobile phone numbers by Manish, a Head Constable posted in the Special Cell, according to the NIA’s chargesheet.

“The last known location of Sabir, according to his mobile phone tower location, was at his village, Gailana, in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh. He is yet to be found. A couple of months ago the NIA had received information about the whereabouts of Sabir at a particular area, but could not find him. His mobile phones were destroyed after March 25, 2013,” explained the sources.

NIA said Pathan (32) once apprehended will reveal who gave him the three grenades, an AK-56 rifle and two magazines with 60 rounds to plant inside Room number 304 of the Haji Arafat Guest House located in the area of Jama Masjid in old Delhi on March 20, 2013 and why was it done. The NIA has not been able to trace origin of the rifle, but said that the grenades were manufactured atleast 20 years ago by the Ordnance Factory. “So backtracking the grenades can’t be done, because there are no records available. The AK-56 is not a service weapon, so it does not have a serial number, which can be traced,” explained the NIA sources.

The NIA today sent a report to the MHA about Liyaqat’s case, detailing its investigation- how Liyaqat was caught by the Special Cell, the names of the Special Cell officers and other personnel, who had allegedly spoken to Sabir over the phone several times on the day Liyaqat was caught and when he planted the arms and ammunition and the next day- March 21- when they were recovered by the Special Cell. The Special Cell chief was not available for comments.