DRI to look into Fahad’s financial deals

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) would probe the financial dealings of Mohammad Fahad, one of the two suspected Al-Badr terrorists arrested by the Karnataka Police from Mysore last October. Fahad, who was brought here on Thursday from Kozhikode amid tight security, was questioned by police officials for the second day on Friday.

The interrogation was in connection with a fake Indian passport secured by him earlier and several other cases. The main case in the State against Fahad was that he had secured an Indian passport using a fake address through friends and relatives. Seven persons, including a postman from Kavannur post office, an ASI and a head constable were arrested for helping Fahad in the matter.

However, the police are also investigating whether he had any role in the twin blasts that occurred here last year. It has reportedly been confirmed that Fahad was in Kozhikode on the days of the blasts. The Crime Branch had also asked for his custody in this regard.

“We have taken Fahad into police custody till January 23 and the interrogation will continue to ascertain his involvement in the cases,” City Police Commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay said.

Refusing to disclose what the Karachi-born Fahad told the police during questioning, Upadhyay said, “We cannot disclose all that he states during interrogation, but we will definitely come out with details as soon as we get a break.” He denied reports appearing in a section of the Press that Fahad had admitted to securing the fake passport during police interrogation here on Thursday night. Officials of the State police, including Intelligence Bureau and Crime Branch, would question Fahad in the next couple of days, Upadhyay said.

Fahad would be taken to various places, including his stepmother’s residence at Kappad near here and Kavannur in neighbouring Malappuram district, IG (North), Ananthakrishnan said. Asked if the police were able to get any definite clues during interrogation, he said the questioning was still underway. The police are also probing Fahad’s connections with fundamentalist groups and hawala operators in the State.

Fahad was arrested by the Karnataka Police on October 28 last for reportedly plotting to attack the Vikasa Soudha in Bangalore and the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore.

Fahad’s father, Abdulla, who was living here, had migrated to Karachi in the early 1970s but Abdulla’s first wife continued to reside at Kappad near here. Fahad had reportedly visited the residence during February and March last. Following the arrest of Fahad in Mysore, the police here raided the Kappad house and also seized some documents and a computer.