Police in Madurai are at their wits end trying to find out the exact address of Mohammad Niaz Abdul Rashid, who was arrested in France on terror charges early this month. Their main stumbling block is that they don't have a photograph of him.
Police said Niaz had obtained two passports from Tamil Nadu -- one from Tiruchi region, but were not sure from where he obtained the other one, apparently a fake.
Intelligence officials suspect the passports could have been obtained at a time when passport offices were not computerised. Police said he was an active member of the Jhun Jhunwala militant outfit based in Pakistan. Investigations were on to ascertain how he got in touch them.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that Niaz was arrested by the French police along with six other suspected Islamic militants on May 10. French authorities suspect he was recruiting volunteers for a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit.
Officials said they were also verifying bank records to ascertain if money had been transferred to anyone from Paris. They suspect Niaz may have got his Pakistan link either through some outfits in Kerala or Mumbai.
They said he was good at hacking and developing software programmes for explosive devices. Niaz had visited Melur in Madurai about three months ago and stayed there for around 14 days. The police suspect Rashid might be residing at Santhaipettai area in Melur.
