New Delhi: Three officials of the National Investigative Agency (NIA), who were probing the terror funding case involving Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, were transferred on Tuesday for allegedly asking for bribe, the investing body informed. According to reports, three officials including a Superintendent of Police (SP) were transferred from the case after a businessman alleged that they were putting pressure on him to pay a bribery of Rs 2 crore for concealing his name in the Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) case.

Commenting about the same, NIA Spokesperson told news agency ANI, "An inquiry into the allegations is being conducted by a DIG rank officer.The 3 concerned officials transferred out to ensure a fair probe." According to reports, a compliant was received from NIA and inquiry into the issue is being conducted by higher officials.

Reports also stats that the SP, who was investigating the FIF case, had been involved in key cases like Samjhauta and Ajmer Sharif terror case earlier. Saeed, a UN designated Pakistani terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, challenged his arrest in the terror financing cases in the Lahore High Court here on Tuesday.

In a fresh petition, Saeed and 67 other leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat (FIF), challeneged the FIRs of terror financing against them in the LHC through their counsels, Advocate A K Dogar, Ahmad Abudullah Dogar and Ghulam Yasin Bhatti.

The petitioners have made the interior ministry, the Punjab home department and the Counter Terrorism Department of Punjab police respondents in the case. The court will fix hearing of this case later. Saeed was arrested on July 17 in a terror financing case and the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Gujrat (some 200-km from Lahore) will take it up on September 2. He is kept at the Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in high security.

The petitioners said JuD chief Saeed and others (67) are not members of Lashkar-e-Taiba either they have any nexus with it. They also cited some previous courts observations in this regard.  Saeed and others prayed to the LHC to declare the property detailed in this petition was "dedicated for the purpose of mosques and is being used as such therefore FIRs are without lawful authority and of no legal effect."