NIA allowed to lie-test Udhampur attack accused

A Delhi court on Monday allowed the NIA to conduct a polygraph test on Udhampur terror attack accused Mohammed Naveed alias Usman.

District Judge Amar Nath, during in-camera proceedings, allowed the National Investigation Agency's plea seeking permission to conduct a polygraph test of Naveed, a Pakistani national.

The court grated permission to the NIA to take the accused to Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Lodhi Road here on August 18 at 11 a.m. for the test.

"Keeping in view the seriousness and gravity of the offence, I am of considered opinion that the polygraph test of the accused Mohammed Naveed is required to be conducted in the facts and circumstances of the instant case as fully explained in the application," the court said.

The NIA said in his plea that during the course of interrogation, the accused was found to be inconsistent in his statement on various occasions thus hampering investigation in the case.

The probe agency added that his polygraph test was very much essential to be conducted to expose the larger conspiracy behind the terrorist attack.

According to court sources, Naveed has given his consent to the lie-detector test by writing in Urdu language.

Naveed and another terrorist attacked a bus on August 5 at Narsu Nallah in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, killing two troopers and injuring 11 others.

Naveed was overpowered by villagers while the other terrorist was killed in a gunfight with security forces.

A special court in Jammu on August 11 granted NIA 14 days' custody of Naveed. The terrorist was later shifted to Delhi due to security arrangements.