NIA grills ex-Major General’s son held on terror suspicion

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday interrogated a retired senior Army officer’s son Sameer Sardana, who was arrested by the Goa Police after he was found loitering suspiciously at the Vasco Railway Station and gathering information about bomb blasts in the country.

“The NIA sleuths arrived this morning and they have been questioning Sardana at Ribander office of crime branch,” a senior ATS official said. Sardana’s father was reported to be an ex-Major General from Dehradun.

Sardana was arrested on Wednesday after he was found loitering suspiciously at the Vasco Railway station with five passports and a laptop.

The ATS, which managed to crack the password of his laptop and access the emails and documents, said he was gathering information about bomb blasts that have taken place across the country. “We have not been able to link him to any terror plot as per the investigations that have taken place till now. But inquiries are on,” said an ATS official on the condition of anonymity.

Sardana, a 44-year-old chartered accountant, was booked under Section 41 of the CrPC. He was living in a railway dormitory, 35 km from here, since January 22 and had been extending his stay, the official said.

Sardana is based in Mumbai and has worked for MNC firms like Accenture with postings in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, the official said. Police investigations have also shown that he is a Hindu by birth, but has been practising Islam.

The Goa Police are on alert after a letter purportedly written by the ISIS, threatening to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, was received on January 13 by the state Secretariat, which was handed over to the ATS.