New Delhi, July 3: Hazi Gulam Muhiuddin Dar, who was arrested yesterday for his alleged involvement in a plot to attack the Palam Air Force Station used by the Prime Minister, had been provided security and government accommodation by the Jammu and Kashmir government, according to police.

Dar alias Zahid, whose expertise, according to the police, lay in sourcing funds from the ISI, working as a conduit for their money and pushing counterfeit notes into the market, was arrested along with three others after a 2-km chase along the Delhi-Gurgaon border.

Zahid was provided the security and the accommodation after he received threats when he contested against People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti from Pulwama in Kashmir during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the police said.

Three personal security officers had been provided to Zahid and his family but he, according to police, had given them the slip and had been living in Delhi for the last three months.

Zahid, the police said, had worked as an informer for the security forces in 1994 when terrorism was at its peak. However, when Zahid’s cover was blown, the militants forced him to give them information about deployment of forces and arms installations.

The accused was being used as a conduit for information and money to outfits like the Islamic Front and Al Umar, as well as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The arms seized from the arrested persons yesterday had been supplied by Al Umar.

Zahid, who was considered an expert at circulating fake currency, had recruited Saqib Rehman alias Masood ? who was also arrested yesterday ? by promising handsome returns if he pushed fake currency into the market.

Saqib had earlier worked as a courier for the Islamic Front’s Bilal Baig in 2002 and had collected Rs 8 lakh and Rs 14 lakh for Baig from a shop in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. Saqib had just visited Nepal for expanding the network’s activities.

Zahid reportedly told police that he first came into contact with the ISI when he was introduced to an agent, Zamil, by a resident of Srinagar.

He then started receiving money from his mentors in Pakistan through the hawala channels, according to the police, who are investigating the trail of money that is usually routed through Nepal.