New Delhi, July 2: Security agencies in India are looking ahead to the deportation of another terror suspect from Saudi Arabia by "next week", a police officer said today, following positive feedback from authorities in Riyadh.
Fasih Mehmood, a 29-year-old Bihar native, is suspected to have been involved in the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore and the shooting near Delhi's Jama Masjid weeks before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
"Saudi authorities have assured us they will deport him by next week. We are very hopeful of getting his custody as he is one of the founding members of the Indian Mujahideen," an IPS officer said.
Late last month, Saudi authorities had deported suspected 26/11 handler Abu Jundal, who is alleged to have taught Hindi to the gunmen who stormed Mumbai in November 2008.
Fasih, a mechanical engineer, is suspected to have played a role in the April 2010 stadium blast in Karnataka that injured 15 people. In September that year, a couple of motorcycle-borne youths sprayed bullets on some Taiwanese tourists, injuring two.
Fasih's wife Nikhat Parveen had moved the Supreme Court alleging her husband was picked up by a team of Indian and Saudi Arabian police from his Saudi residence. On the request of Delhi and Karnataka police, the CBI had asked Interpol to issue a red corner notice against Fasih in April. Saudi authorities had then informed security agencies that Fasih was under detention.
"We are finalising all the formalities to ensure his deportation," the IPS officer said.
Jundal case
Pakistan has decided to take up the issue of Jundal at foreign secretary-level talks with India starting Wednesday. Jundal, also known as Abu Hamza, is said to have confessed to having instructed the 26/11 militants from a Karachi control room.
Home minister P. Chidambaram has since accused Pakistan's official machinery of a role in the 2008 siege. "It is necessary to get to the bottom of the controversy and see how authentic is the statement made by Abu Hamza," a government official told The Telegraph in Islamabad.