No n-charges, Hussaini now held for fraud

While the Mumbai Police claimed on Friday that Akhtar Hussaini — the man deported from Dubai on June 12 for allegedly trying to sell In...

While the Mumbai Police claimed on Friday that Akhtar Hussaini — the man deported from Dubai on June 12 for allegedly trying to sell India’s nuclear secrets — was arrested after he was released in Delhi after questioning, records show that Hussaini was in Mumbai till Thursday morning.

He was handed over to Mumbai Police on Wednesday and was subsequently released. Hussaini then caught the 6 am Indian Airlines flight IC 601 from Mumbai to Delhi. Records show he travelled by economy class. Hussaini, however, played a little trick. He did not leave the airport. Instead, he went straight to the departure terminal (1B) where he purchased another ticket and returned to Mumbai by a Jet Airways flight, probably to throw sleuths off his scent. He was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch at around 8.30 am on charges of forgery and cheating by impersonation and produced in court. The dilution in charges was largely due to lack of documentation to be handed over by Dubai.

Akhtar Hussaini’s free fall on the crime charts — from selling India’s nuclear secrets to forgery, was complete. He was remanded to custody till July 1 by a Mumbai court.

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The evidence was a fake BA certificate of his wife Razia Shaikh from Ranchi University and a driver’s licence in the name of ‘Captain’ Hussaini. Police claim he posed as an Indian Army captain to get a driver’s licence in Uttar Pradesh. The documents were presented before the metropolitan magistrate’s court today.

Other evidence with the police but not produced in court is more noteworthy. It includes a fake ID of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre showing him as his brother, Dr Syed Adil Hussaini. JCP (crime) Dr Satya Pal Singh said Hussaini claimed he was a member of ‘Coordinating Nuclear Group’ with headquarters in New Delhi. There is no such group. Hussaini also claimed he was member of a team coordinating nuclear tests in 1993. There were no such tests.

‘‘UAE officials have sent documents relevant to the case, to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. We are awaiting a copy to pursue further investigations,’’ said Singh.

The habeas corpus filed by Hussaini’s brother, Dr Syed Adil Hussaini, was disposed of by the Bombay High Court on Friday.