BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: India is sending a team to Chile to confirm the identity of arrested Abdul Rauf, alleged mastermind of the hijacking of IC-814.
A two member team comprising one officer each from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will reportedly press for the extradition of Pakistani citizen Rauf to India based on the Interpol Red Corner notice against him in connection with the hijacking of Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu on December 24, 1999.
Rauf is the brother of Mualana Masood Azhar, amongst India’s most wanted terrorists. Azhar was among the three suspected terrorists exchanged for 154 passengers after eight-days of negotiations carried out at Kandahar, a city in Southern Afghanistan.
Azhar is said to be the founder of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and is said to be operating from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Rauf is said to have taken command of Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2007 after Maulana Masood Azhar went underground.
Reports further said that the two-member team will be flying to the Chilean capital fly Santiago via New York.
The Indian team has a tough job at hand as they will have to substantiate the basis on which India had got the Red Corner notice issued against Rauf to make their case credible. The job gets tougher as India and Chile don’t have a mutual extradition treaty and hence Chilean laws will also have a bearing on how things work out for India.
The United States Treasury had designated Azhar a terrorist in December 2010.
Yesterday, there were reports that the Chilean police had sent Rauf’s finger prints for verification but the CBI expressed its inability as neither Rauf’s picture nor his finger prints was available with the investigation agency.
