Mumbai Police Uncovers Fake BARC Scientist's Decades-Long Espionage Network and Foreign Funding

Akhtar Hussaini was apprehended last month by authorities

Mumbai:

A 60-year-old individual arrested for impersonating a scientist from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has received substantial foreign funding amounting to crores for exchanging sensitive nuclear information, according to sources who spoke with NDTV on Monday.

Akhtar Hussaini was detained last month by Mumbai Police for traveling throughout India while falsely presenting himself as a BARC scientist. Authorities confiscated more than 10 maps and alleged data related to nuclear weapons from Hussaini, who resides in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.

Officials also recovered multiple counterfeit passports, Aadhaar and PAN cards, and a fraudulent BARC identification card from his possession. One identification document named him as Ali Raza Hussain, while another identified him as Alexander Palmer.

His sibling, Adil, was also apprehended in Delhi in connection with the case.

According to sources from Mumbai Police's Crime Branch, the Hussaini brothers began receiving funds from foreign sources in 1995.

Initially, they received payments in lakhs of rupees, but after 2000, the amounts increased to crores.

Investigators suspect these payments were made in exchange for classified blueprints concerning BARC and other nuclear facilities.

During their investigation, police discovered a private bank account under Akhtar Hussaini's name that showed suspicious transaction activities.

Law enforcement has requested comprehensive transaction details from the bank to determine the exact amount and source of the funding.

The brothers reportedly closed several other bank accounts they had been utilizing.

Police are examining records of these previous accounts to establish a complete financial trail.

There are also suspicions that the brothers visited Pakistan and might have connections to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Akhtar had been altering his identity and living undercover. In 2004, he was deported from Dubai after claiming to be a "scientist possessing classified documents".

He sold his ancestral property in Jharkhand in 1996 but continued obtaining fraudulent documents with assistance from his former contacts, according to sources.

Adil subsequently introduced him to Munazzil Khan, a resident of Jharkhand who created two fake passports for them under the names Hussaini Mohammad Adil and Nasimuddin Syed Adil Hussaini.

The address listed on these passports corresponded to their former residence in Jamshedpur that had been sold nearly three decades ago.

Police suspect the brothers utilized these forged documents and false identities to travel internationally.