Author: Agencies
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 2, 2015

The documents handed over by the US to India in connection with the probe into the plot to carry out terror strikes on American and Israeli consulates in south India have established communication between Sakir Hussain, undergoing jail term in the case, and a Pakistani national. The man from Pakistan, `Shahjee', was introduced to the accused allegedly by a Pakistani diplomat working in Colombo.
NIA, which probed into the conspiracy, had sent a request to the US for details from a service provider whose email was used by Hussain to communicate to his handler in Sri Lanka.

Hussain, who pleaded guilty, was arrested in April last year in a joint effort by IB sleuths and Tamil Nadu police. He was carrying out reconnaissance missions on targets including US consulate in Chennai and Israeli consulate in Bangalore to facilitate a terror strike similar to 2611. For this, two terrorists were to be flown in from Maldives.

Hussain had named Amir Zubair Siddiqui, who was working as visa counsellor at Pakistan High Commission in Colombo till some time back but had to be repatriated to Islamabad after India mounted pressure on Sri Lanka about his alleged activities targeting the country. Pakistan, however, maintains that he was shifted after completing his tenure in Colombo.

During his questioning, Hussain said “Shahjee“ was introduced to him by Siddiqui and all the meetings took place in hotels at Colombo. The accused told the investigators that “Shahjee“ was described as second-incommand to the visa counsellor. The response provided by US authorities showed that the account was operated by “Shahjee“ who had provided the name while registering with the email account, official sources said.

They said “Shahjee“ sent emails to email addresses in Pakistan and even used Siddiqui'spersonal email account for it, the sources said.