(Image source from: Ndtv.com)
A 60-year-old man who was caught pretending to be a scientist from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) received a large amount of money from abroad for trading confidential nuclear information, sources informed on Monday. Akhtar Hussaini was detained by Mumbai Police last month while he was traveling throughout the country, falsely presenting himself as a BARC scientist. The police took more than 10 maps and supposed information about nuclear weapons from him, as well as several counterfeit passports, Aadhaar and PAN cards, along with a fake BARC identification. One ID referred to him as Ali Raza Hussain, while another said Alexander Palmer. His brother, Adil, was also arrested in Delhi.
As per the Crime Branch sources from Mumbai Police, the Hussaini brothers started to get foreign funding in 1995.
At first, they received hundreds of thousands of rupees, but after 2000, their payments increased to crores. It is believed that this money was given in exchange for confidential blueprints related to BARC and other nuclear facilities. During the investigation, the police discovered a private bank account under Akhtar Hussaini's name with suspicious transactions. The police have now asked the bank for detailed transaction records to find out the exact amount and source of the funds. The two brothers also shut down several other bank accounts they were using. The police are looking into older account records to create a full picture of the money flow. There are suspicions that the two brothers visited Pakistan and might have connections with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Akhtar had been altering his identity and living covertly. He was sent back from Dubai in 2004 after he claimed to be a "scientist with secret papers." In 1996, he sold an ancestral property in Jharkhand but kept acquiring fake documents through his old connections, sources reported.
At that time, Adil introduced him to Munazzil Khan, a resident of Jharkhand who made two fake passports for them under the names Hussaini Mohammad Adil and Nasimuddin Syed Adil Hussaini. The address listed on the passports was of their home in Jamshedpur, which was sold nearly three decades ago. The police believe that the brothers used these forged documents and false identities to travel internationally.
