Hyderabad blasts: Court remands suspected IM operative to NIA custody

New Delhi: A Delhi court today remanded suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Obaid-ur-Rehman to seven days of NIA custody in connection with the 21 February Hyderabad twin blasts case. During an in-chamber hearing, district judge IS Mehta allowed the National Investigation Agency’s plea seeking custodial interrogation of Rehman on the ground that it has to unearth the entire conspiracy which led to the bombings that claimed 16 lives, court sources said. [caption id=“attachment_659328” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Officials collective evidence from the blast site. AP[/caption] They said the NIA told the court that Rehman was a key IM operative and he may give some vital information against the banned group’s members who were involved in the blasts. The court allowed the plea and remanded Rehman, who was brought here by the probe agency from the Bangalore Central Jail where he was currently lodged, in NIA’s custody till 20 March. The court had earlier issued production warrant for today against Rehman. During the hearing, the court also sent suspected IM operatives — Syed Maqbool, Imran Khan and Mohammad Aftab Alam — to judicial custody till 23 March. The NIA had earlier interrogated Maqbool and Imran and had taken them to Hyderabad in connection with the probe. It told the court that Maqbool and Imran have revealed some important facts about the blasts, the sources said. Maqbool and Imran were lodged in Tihar Jail after their arrest by Delhi Police in the August 2012 Pune blast case. The NIA had told the court that the duo recced Hyderabad’s Dilsukhnagar area where the blasts took place. The court had also issued non-bailable warrants against IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal and nine other operatives of the banned group in connection with the Hyderabad blasts — Iqbal Bhatkal, Mohsim Chaudhary, Amir Reza Khan, Dr Shahnawaz Alam, Asadullah Akhtar, Ariz Khan, Mohd Khalid, Mirza Shadaab Beg and Mohd Sajid. According to the sources, the NIA had told the judge that the conspiracy behind the Hyderabad blasts was hatched by the IM modules. The NIA said the blasts took place in Hyderabad on the alleged instructions of Riyaz Bhatkal. PTI