ATS probing if murder accused has terror links

Parvez Tak, who is accused of murdering starlet Laila Khan and five of her family members, is currently being questioned by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Maharashtra, which is checking if Tak has any terror links.

Parvez Tak, who is accused of murdering starlet Laila Khan and five of her family members, is currently being questioned by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Maharashtra, which is checking if Tak has any terror links.

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ATS sources said its Juhu unit was handling the questioning. “We are checking if Tak has links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),” a source said. The questioning which began on Thursday continued on Friday, sources said, clarifying that so far they had not found any terror link to the controversy.

Tak, police said, had escaped to Nepal and it was through Shabir Hussein, the second accused in the case that Tak returned to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and was arrested. Hussein, however, is absconding.

As per Tak’s statement to the crime branch, he was a road contractor in J&K and was kidnapped by the LeT and released only when he paid a ransom.

Police also clarified that after Khan’s farmhouse in Igatpuri was set on fire, there were reports of satellite phones being found and also calls being made to Pakistan by the accused.

Last week, Nadir Shah Patel, Laila Khan’s father, approached the Bombay high court calling the crime branch investigation into the case shoddy and demanding that the case be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Startlet’s bank locker opened
The crime branch on Friday opened the bank locker of starlet Laila Khan, to investigate the family’s financial details. The crime branch is investigating the murder of Khan and five of her family members on February 8, 2011, at their Igatpuri farmhouse.

Police sources said Khan maintained the locker with a prominent city bank, and the crime branch had only recently discovered the fact. Apart from checking the locker, the police are also scanning the three bank accounts of the Khan family.

Officials said they suspected that the accused, Parvez Tak, stole money and jewellery belonging to Khan and her family following the murders. Police are in the process of verifying his statements.

Crime branch officers visited the Khans’ Igatpuri farmhouse on Tuesday to recreate the scene of the six murders.