NIA arrests suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba handler Habibur Rahman at Delhi airport

He is believed to be a handler of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Shaikh Abdul Naeem, who was arrested in 2007 for trying to send militants to India via Bangladesh.

The National Intelligence Agency arrested Habibur Rahman, a suspected member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Sunday. He was returning from Riyadh. The agency produced Rahman in the Patiala House Court on Monday and appealed to take him into custody, officials said in a press release.

Rahman, a former resident of Odisha, is believed to be the handler of



Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Shaikh Abdul Naeem, who was arrested in 2007 for trying to send militants to India via Bangladesh. He escaped in 2014 but was again arrested in November 2017. Naeem is believed to have used the assistance of his handlers to identify several vulnerable locations to target across India. He assumed several fake identities to conduct his reconnaissance, the agency said.

The agency accused Rahman of helping provide shelter and funds for Naeem during his operation in India. The statement said he was following the instructions of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Amjad Rehan.