Bangladeshi terror suspect's police custody extended

A local court today extended till November 11 the police custody of a Bangladeshi national, arrested last week at Kalwa in the district and who is suspected to have been involved in terror activities, including blasts, in his country.

Bashirmulla Sukurmulla Shaikh (40) was produced before Judicial Magistrate P D Chavan, who extended the police custody.

The Bangladeshi national, who has been illegally staying in India, was nabbed by Crime Branch officials from Kalwa on Friday in connection with an offence registered in the city for theft and house trespass.

The investigators told the court that they were in the process of getting additional information about the accused from various agencies and needed more time for the probe.
 

Police told the court that they were verifying whether Shaikh was also involved in human trafficking after he fled to India from Bangladesh in 2014.

Police said they were also examining whether Shaikh had any role to play in the bomb explosion, which took place in front of the hotel in Dhaka, where President Pranab Mukherjee was staying on his official visit to Bangladesh, in March 2013.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is also interrogating the accused to get further details of his activities and his involvement in the blasts.

Shaikh, who hails from Narail district in south-western Bangladesh, has revealed to the police that while he was in his country, he had taken training in bomb-making from terror outfits. Shaikh assembled bombs at his residence in Narail district, south-western Bangladesh, and also carried out a few explosions, in which people were killed.

During the interrogation, he disclosed that his wife Sultana was killed in one such explosion in 2014.

Offences were lodged against him and his associates in 2014 at Kalia Police Station in Narail district (Bangladesh) in connection with these blasts, police said.

Shaikh was earlier arrested by Special Branch of Mumbai Police in March 2016 for staying in India without valid documents, including passport. He was booked under Indian Passport Act and Foreigners Act and was out on bail and lived in Navi Mumbai.