New Delhi:
Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said that even if he recommended a visa for a suspected terrorist arrested in Delhi, he cannot be accused of any sort of link to the man.
Athesham Malik was arrested with another man, Shafaqat, this week in Delhi, days ahead of their planned terror attack in the capital - the police says they were ready to bomb a crowded market. The two men, believed to be Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, had been trained in Pakistan. A letter from Mr Geelani recommended a visa for Mr Malik's trip to Pakistan.
Mr Geelani told NDTV this morning that he gives recommendation letters for many Kashmiris "based on human relationships." He added, "I didn't know of his link to Lashkar. He already had a legal passport... I didn't check more. It's all a conspiracy against me." Home Minister R K Singh has made it clear that if needed for the investigation, Mr Geelani will be questioned.
The Delhi Police says Mr Malik traveled to Pakistan in December where he was trained to assemble IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices. When Shafaqat and he were arrested, the police says an assembled bomb, ready for use, was found in his bag. On Tuesday, the police arrested Mr Malik's cousin, Tauseef, from Hazaribag in Jharkhand.
All three men are tech students in their early 20s from Sopore in Kashmir. The police claims they were working under a local LeT commander named Akash Badar. Their families deny this.