Who is Akhtar Hussain Qutubuddin Ahmed? Man who posed as fake scientist, undertook 40 foreign trips, MCB's probe reveals...

The Mumbai Crime Branch (MCB) has revealed shocking details in its probe into the fake BARC scientist case, giving details about his frequent foreign travel and suspicious financial inflows for over two decades. The probe came after the MCB arrested Akhtar Hussain Qutubuddin Ahmed for allegedly posing as a scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for the past 30 years.  

What does MCB’s probe into fake scientist reveal? 

By posing as a fake scientist, the 60-year-old man used this fake identity to travel outside the country to get international funding. According to MCB’s preliminary investigations, Ahmed undertook 40 foreign trips to foreign countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Thailand, and the United States. For his visits, he used fake passport and travelled some countries multiple times- Iran almost 20 times, Saudi Arabia roughly 15 times, and making several trips to Moscow, Russia, and Thailand.   

The Crime Branch officials discovered that Ahmed and his brother, Adil Hussain, held accounts in multiple banks, and in one of these private bank accounts, police found huge foreign transactions as old as 2001. Both the brothers were arrested around same time, while Akhtar was arrested from Yari Road, Versova, Adil was taken into custody by the Delhi Police. 

According to sources, Ahmed received foreign remittances since 1996, allegedly from countries like the United States, Iran, and Iraq. “The transactions post-2001 appear highly irregular, with repeated inflows from unidentified foreign sources,” said a Crime Branch officer. The officials also suspect that the brothers had been receiving foreign funding since the mid-1990s, most likely through complex offshore structures to hide their true source. They also suspect that these payments were received through unknown intermediaries.  

When investigated, Ahmed said that he possessed BARC maps and other sensitive technical data, through which he claimed to solicit foreign funds. The Mumabai police have taken the suspects’ phones, laptops, and all fraudulent documents into their custody. Adil Hussain has been faceing separate legal proceedings in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.