MUMBAI, June 13: Police here were questioning on Sunday an Indian man extradited from the United Arab Emirates where he was arrested for allegedly offering to sell nuclear secrets to Arab embassies.
Akhtar Hussein Qotb Ahmed, a businessman who Emirati authorities doubted possessed sensitive nuclear information, arrived in Bombay overnight. "The interrogation is going on at the airport. We are investigating the charges put forth by the Dubai police," senior police official Satyapal Singh said.
"So far he has said that this is a plot hatched by his business rivals. We are investigating all leads. It is too early to arrive at any conclusions at present," Mr Singh said. -AFP
Our Correspondent in the UAE adds: The accused is brother of Indian nuclear scientist Dr Ahmed Hussain. Dubai Police Chief Lt-Gen Dhahi Khalfan Tamim revealed dramatic details of the arrest at a press conference on Saturday.
He said that International Atomic Energy Agency and the Indian authorities had been kept informed and they provided help during the two-year investigation when the accused was under 24-hour surveillance.
He said that Akhtar had made offers to several friendly countries to provide the nuclear secrets for varying amounts, in millions of dollars. The UAE authorities did not say if the nuclear scientist knew about the activities of his brother. However, details provided by police implied some involvement of the scientist.
"The suspect, in an effort to sell nuclear secrets, made arrangements for a symposium where his brother, the Indian atomic scientist Dr Ahmed Hussain, would be the chief speaker", Lt-Gen Tamim was quoted in the local press as saying.
"The scientist came to the UAE and delivered a lecture", said the Dubai police chief. "But the symposium could only attract students and some academics from the Al Ain-based UAE University".
When the accused failed to attract 'potential clients' to the symposium, he started contacting them directly. "At a later point, Akhtar started to contact diplomats of certain Arab countries in the UAE.... to sell them nuclear secrets, but all diplomats rejected his offer and reported the attempts to the UAE authorities", the police chief said.
According to one Dubai newspaper, the accused is "suspected of being the middleman between his brother, Ahmed Hussain, who is a member of the Indian nuclear programme's team, and potential clients".
The accused first contacted the UAE ambassador to India two years ago and offered to sell nuclear secrets but, according to police, the ambassador informed the UAE authorities who kept Akhtar under close surveillance when he came to the UAE to start a business.
Police said it took then two years to arrest him because they wanted to find out if he was working alone or as a member of a network. "Akhtar was arrested once it was clear that he was working alone and had no support from a network.
Investigations revealed that he posed no real threat and did not possess any material or documents of a critical or dangerous nature", said the police chief.
The decision to extradite him immediately to India was taken because the matter related to Indian security. "The Indian government was informed of his attempts and an agreement was reached to extradite him so that he can be tried under Indian laws because his attempts had implications for his country's national security", Gen Tamim was quoted as saying.
