BHUBANESWAR: A day after quizzing Akhtar Hussein Khan of Cuttack over suspected terrorist links, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has summoned him to depose further at its headquarters in New Delhi on December 4.
"It appears that you are acquainted with the circumstances of an NIA case registered on December 27 which is being investigated by the superintendent of police Ajeet Singh. You hereby required to appear before him at 11 am on December 4 for answering certain questions relating to the case,” the summons stated.
A native of Kusumandal village under Nemala police limits, Akhtar Hussein Khan was quizzed for nearly ten hours on Wednesday for links with a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative who was nabbed from Lucknow.
He was questioned by a joint team of the NIA and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) at his rented accommodation in the Samantarapur slum in Cuttack’s Kishan Nagar area.
The NIA’s raid in Odisha came after the central agency with the assistance of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Sheikh Abdul Nayeem, a suspected LeT terrorist from Lucknow.
According to sources, Nayeem and Khan were working along with a youngster from Thane in a workshop in Saudi Arabia few years ago. NIA sleuths will further question Khan to verify whether he had any terror links with Nayeem in the past.
The central investigation agency had seized Khan's cell phone and some documents from his rented house. His family members, however, claimed that he was innocent and not involved with any illegal activities.
A father of four, Khan, who was earlier working in Saudi Arabia, had left his parental house following a family dispute and was staying on rent in Kishan Nagar area for the last more than four years. His eldest son is working in the Middle-East.