New Delhi, Mar 7: Delhi Police today recorded the statement of pro-Pakistan hardliner Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connection with the allegations that he had given a recommendation letter to arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Athesham Malik for getting a Pakistani visa.
82-year-old Geelani, whose recommendation letter's xerox copy was recovered from the belongings of Malik, arrived at the Special Cell at Lodhi Road along with his son-in-law Altaf Fantoosh and close aide Shafi Reshi, official sources said.
Geelani, who had set the pro-Pakistan and hardline tone in Jamaat-e-Islami, was shown the papers and asked about his relation with Malik and who had introduced the Lashkar terrorist to him, they said.
According to the investigators, they had received a copy of the recommendation letter given by Geelani to 24-year-old Malik who went to Pakistan in December last year where he received training for fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
A laboratory technician, Malik was earlier associated with Lashkar in Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir and was arrested in 2007 along with two others.
Geelani's spokesperson, Ayaz Akbar, had earlier said that, “we don't know about this case. But generally, if any Kashmiri comes to Geelani sahab for recommendation, he gives his recommendation only because they being Kashmiri. But then how can he know why he wants to go there and what his motive is?”
