India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has put a Pakistani diplomat to its list of people wanted for carrying out various acts of terrorism in the South Asian country, seeking information on him.
Amir Zubair Siddique, who was posted as visa counsellor in the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo (Sri Lanka), is the first Pakistani diplomat to be added to the list.
Siddique is accused of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks on United States and Israeli consulates in India, the Hindustan Times reported. He reportedly planned these attacks during his stint at the Pakistani High Commission in Sri Lanka in 2014, the agency said in a chargesheet it filed in February.
NIA list has nicknamed him as ‘Boss’ and he was chargesheeted in February, along with two others, for plotting 26/11 type attacks in southern India.
NIA said a fourth Pakistani officer posted in the high commission in Sri Lanka was also involved in the conspiracy.
The NIA has also initiated the process for securing an Interpol Red Corner notice against him.
Siddique was working as visa counsellor at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo but had to be repatriated to Islamabad after India pressured Sri Lanka for information about his alleged activities. His name features on the list along with that of Major Samir Ali, one of the handlers who allegedly orchestrated the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, Sajid Mir of the Inter-Services Intelligence and Jamaat-ud-Dawah leader Hafiz Saeed.
Pakistani authorities are yet to comment on this issue.
