Liyaqat Shah Case: Phone call to Pakistan that never was

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency did not find any record of a purported call made by Liyaqat Shah to his Pakistani handler under supervision of Delhi Police, which the latter claimed had led them to recovery of weapons from a Jama Masjid guest house.

Delhi Special Cell officers, ACP Manishi Chandra and Inspector Sanjay Dutt, admitted to NIA that "no record" of the said conversation was maintained by them.

"This was also agreed to in writing by Delhi Police," the NIA had told the Home Ministry in a 20-page note. Efforts made to obtain the transcripts of the said conversation, if any, have not borne any result as the same are not available with any state police/intelligence agency," the NIA note said.

The Delhi Police had claimed they made Liyaqat speak to his Pakistani handler from Inspector Dutt’s phone by way of a "controlled conversation" and the handler told Liyaqat of the location of the weapons and explosives in the guest house. "No record of the voice content and the transcript exists to establish the veracity of the facts purported to be part of the conversation," the NIA says.