NEW DELHI : Five suspected terrorists accused of carrying out serial blasts in the Capital were today remanded to 12 days’ police custody by a court here to enable their questioning to identify co-conspirators.
"Court is convinced that to unearth the bigger conspiracy, thorough investigation in the matter with aid of custodial interrogation is required. Keeping in view the entire facts and circumstances of the case, the accused are remanded to police custody," Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjeev Jain said.
Accused Mohd Saif, Zeeshan Ahmad, Mohd Shakeel, Zia-ur-Rehman and Saqib Nissar were produced on completion of their 14 days’ police remand.
Seeking fresh custodial interrogation of the suspected terrorists, public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said "to unearth the entire conspiracy, the accused persons may be required in other parts of the country to identify the co-conspirators or others involved in the heinous crime."
The prosecutor cited the complex nature of probe and its ramifications in other parts of the country as the grounds for their fresh custodial interrogation.
Saif and Zeeshan, who were sent to police remand in connection with the Karol Bagh blast, were today formally arrested in another case registered for carrying out blasts in Greater Kailash (Part I) in South Delhi.
The other three — Shakeel, Zia-ur-Rehman and Saqib Nissar — who were being interrogated by the police in connection their alleged involvement in Greater Kailash blast were today formally arrested in the Karol Bagh blast case.
The September 13 serial blasts — which rocked Connaught Place, Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh and the M Block Market in Greater Kailash — left 25 people dead and several others injured.
Saif was arrested following an encounter in Jamia Nagar in South Delhi on September 19 while Zeeshan was arrested on the same evening from Jhandewalan area in central Delhi where he had gone to give an interview to a private TV channel.
The other three accused were arrested on September 20.
Prosecutor Mohan told the court that the police had recovered a lap-top and mobile phones from the accused.
He also claimed that the accused were modules of banned outfit SIMI and Indian Mujahideen.
"There was constant conversations among the accused. The police could arrest five persons from Mumbai, four in Bangalore and one in Uttar Pradesh following a lead from them. They have also revealed the names of six other persons allegedly involved in the blasts," he said.
The counsel for the accused, on the other hand, opposed their remand saying that they had already spent 14 days in police custody. The counsel for one accused claimed that he was not allowed to meet his client during police custody.
Meanwhile, the court also asked the police to avoid "unwarranted or undue comments" in the media and take every step to ensure fair investigation in the blasts cases.
The court’s directions came when it inquired from the prosecutor as to why all five accused were produced in muffled face when their photographs were already shown in the media.
All the accused have been booked under various provisions of the IPC, Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.(PTI)