New Delhi, August 31: Dr Upendra Kaul, a leading cardiologist and chairman of Batra Hospital, was summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as a witness in a terror funding case reportedly because sleuths mistook abbreviations of blood test result as details of hawala transactions. On Friday, Dr Upendra Kaul, who has been awarded the Padma Shri, appeared before the NIA and explained his text message to separatist leader Yasin Malik. JKLF Chief Yasin Malik 'absolutely Fine, Healthy': Tihar Prison DG.

The NIA asked Dr Kaul to explain text messages exchanged between him and his patient Yasin Malik that mentioned "INR 2.78", according to The Indian Express. The text message read: "Blood Report Value INR 2.78". NIA sleuths believed INR 2.78 was possibly connected to hawala transactions as Indian Rupee is abbreviated INR. However, Dr Kaul told officers that the INR mentioned in the text message stood for International Normalized Ratio (INR). Terror Funding Case: NIA Arrests Former J-K MLA Rashid Engineer.

"Yaseen Malik has been my patient since 1996. When he was in jail, Malik was brought to AIIMS by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and senior R&AW official A S Dulat. And at AIIMS, he was brought through the Medical Superintendent and I was made to examine him. He then underwent an invasive procedure of the heart — the Aortic Valve Replacement," Dr Kaul was quoted as saying.

"And following the surgery, he made a few visits for post-operative care. And in particular, there is this blood test to check the efficacy of anti-coagulation. And it is called the International Normalized Ratio (INR)," he explained. The NIA's move followed Kaul's criticism of the Centre's decision of abrogating the Constitution's Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2019 09:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).