7/11 blasts: Court extends remand of six accused

Mumbai, Oct 13: A special court here today extended police custody of six accused in the July 11 serial train blasts till October 26 but three accused were discharged.

Arrested under the stringent Marharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), police remand of Naved Hussain Khan, Mohammed Majid, Shiekh Mohammmed,Mohammed Shajid, Abdul Wahid and Asif Khan alias Junaid was extended by the designated court of Ms Mrudula Bhatkar on the prosecutor's request.

The court, however, discharged three others - Mumtaz Chaudhry, Khalid Ahmed and Taufiq Hashmi - who were arrested under provisions of Indian Penal Code.

Unlike seven co-accused who had alleged torture in police custody, the six MCOCA accused, when asked by the judge if they had any complaint against the police, replied in the negative. However, Naved Hussain Khan claimed he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case. But his statement was not recorded by the court when prosecutor said he made a similar allegation earlier also.

Meanwhile, the court allowed police to defuse 10 detonators they said they had seized from Junaid.

On October nine, the seven accused arrested under MCOCA had retracted their confessional statements, alleging these were extracted under pressure by police.

Those who retracted the statements are Dr Tanvir Ansari, Muzamil Sheikh, Faizal Sheikh, Kamal Asari, Zamir Sheikh, Ethesham Siddiqui and Sohail Ahmed Sheikh. They are in judicial custody till October 20.

Besides the 13 accused arrested under the stringent MCOCA, police had arrested another three people for their alleged involvement in the blasts in which 188 commuters lost their lives and over 800 were injured. When Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy had announced on September 30 that they had solved the 7/11 blasts case, he had said three accused could be released if nothing substantial was found against them.

UNI

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