Saudi-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist handler held at Delhi airport, says National Investigation Agency

A Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group terrorist handler was held from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the National Investigation Agency said today. The terrorists identified as Habibur Rahaman alias Habib, originally resident of Kendrapara in Odisha and currently based out of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia was arrested by anti-terror agency on Sunday.

According to the NIA, Habibur Rahman was one of the handlers of LeT terrorist Shaikh Abdul Naeem alias Nomi who was initially arrested in 2007 while trying to infiltrate two Pakistani and one Kashmiri terrorist into India through Bangladesh.

Shaikh Abdul Naeem, later on, escaped from custody in August 2014 and later he joined terror operations on the directions of his handlers based in Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia.

"A well-established conspiracy was hatched between the accused of targeting vulnerable locations in India with the intent of causing maximum damage," the NIA said.

As per reports in NDTV, Naeem was tasked to identify locations where terrorist attacks could be carried out on the occasiopn of Independence Day Celebrations.

For which, Naeem appropriated different fake identities and visited different states including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh and did reconnaissance of possible targets for terrorist attacks.

Habibur Rahman arranged hideouts and funds for Shaikh Abdul Naeem on different occasions for carrying out terrorist activities in India on the directions of the LeT terrorist Amjad alias Rehan who is based in Pakistan, the NIA said.

Rehman is being produced today in Delhi's Patiala House Courts by the NIA to seek custody for his interrogation.