Delhi court extends police custody of IM suspect

An Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, who was allegedly involved in the 2010 Jama Masjid bomb blast in New Delhi, has been remanded in 20-day police custody by a court here Tuesday.

A sessions judge has extended the custody of Ajaz Sheikh, 27, a Pune resident, and allowed Delhi Police to quiz him further, till Oct 6. He was presented before the court after expiry of his 10-day police custody.

Police told the court that it has to analyse call details of the accused, his laptop and other things to know the whole conspiracy.

Shiekh was arrested Sep 5 from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district during a joint operation by Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS). He was brought to Delhi, presented before a court here Sep 6, and was remanded in 10-day police custody.

IM key operative Sheikh - who was the "silent" India-based techie, logistics supporter and hawala router for the IM operatives in India - was on the radar of the security agencies for over three months.

He is suspected to have played an important role in "facilitating" the blast, an official said, adding Sheikh was "in the thick of IM operations" in the country.