NIA ropes CBI into Headley case

In the biggest ever nationwide anti-terror operation of its kind, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought the services of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to help track down terror operators and their sympathisers.

It has come to light that CBI officers from the southern and western zones, covering Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka, are actively involved in providing logistic and material support to the NIA, which is woefully understaffed and not fully equipped to undertake such a mammoth exercise.

“The CBI is the country’s nodal agency which deals with Interpol and other foreign intelligence agencies. David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana’s network is spread over several continents and traverses USA, Denmark, Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The CBI can play a vital role in coordinating with security and investigating agencies of the countries concerned in seeking information on the past activities of the duo,” said a senior CBI official.

“In its records, the CBI has details of several wanted and suspected terror-related individuals, and the data could be of immense value to the NIA,” the official said.
Sources added that the CBI, along with local police, is also helping the NIA in conducting background checks on several suspects in Mumbai, Pune and Cochin.