NIA seeks nod to grill Paris suspect

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has sought the government's permission to send a team to France to question Paris attacks conspirator and alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba bomb-maker Mohammad Ghani Usman. Sources said French authorities have agreed to give Indian investigators access to Usman.

Usman's name had recently cropped up during interrogation of Islamic State (IS) operative Subahani Haja Moideen, who stayed in Iraq for five months and claimed to have become friends with the Pakistani national.

"Usman's interrogation in France is necessary to know more about Moideen's claims about Indians based in terrorist outfit Daesh's territory and his association with LeT. It is possible that he knows about LeT's plans in India," a senior officer said.

As first reported by TOI , intelligence agencies want to question Usman about his links with LeT's senior leadership including Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur-Rehman Lakhvi.