Bhatkal, Asadullah sent to 12 day police custody by court

Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his close associate Asadullah Akhtar were today remanded to 12-day police custody by a Delhi court after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said their custodial interrogation was required to unearth larger conspiracy of terror attacks.

Both the accused were produced in muffled faces before District Judge I S Mehta and NIA sought their 14-day custody for making recoveries related to the case and getting leads for arrest of other absconding co-accused.

Bhatkal, co-founder of the banned terror outfit, is wanted in around 40 terror cases and carries a reward of Rs.35 lakh. He was arrested from Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday night.

Yasin, who hails from Bhatkal village of Udupi district in North Karnataka, is wanted in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad.

During today's proceedings held in-camera, advocate M S Khan, appearing for both the accused, argued that there was no material evidence against them. He also said that one of the accused persons was Mohd Ahmed and not Yasin.

The court, however, allowed NIA's plea saying, "In these circumstances and looking into contents of the application, I grant police custody to the NIA for 12 days for further investigation."

NIA, in its remand plea said Mohd Ahmed Siddibappa and Yasin Bhatkal are one and same against whom Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) was issued by the court.

Bhatkal and Asadullah have been arrested by NIA for conspiring to carry out terror attacks across the country.

"These accused persons are required for custodial interrogation in the case to unearth the larger conspiracy to effect the recoveries and getting leads for arrest of other absconding co-accused persons.

"Both the accused persons are also required to be taken to various places in and outside Delhi for recovery of material evidence," the NIA said in its remand application.

The court had earlier issued NBWs against Bhatkal, Akhtar and ten other alleged top IM operatives on July 18 in a case in which five alleged IM operatives were chargesheeted on July 17.

Opposing NIA's plea saying 14-day remand, Khan argued that different state agencies are investigating the cases in their own way and NIA is one of them and a newly investigating agency. He also told the court that there is no material against both the accused persons.

The NIA also moved a separate application seeking permission to handcuff both Bhatkal and Akhtar while taking them to different states for further investigation. The plea was allowed by the court.