Court extends police custody of two accused in 13/7 blasts

Mumbai, Feb 28: A local court on Monday extended the police custody of two accused in the 13/7 serial blasts case in the city -- Naqi Ahmed and Nadeem Sheikh -- till March 6, after the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) said it was likely to make another arrest in the case soon.

ATS officials told the court there were a lot of developments in the case and the agency had crucial leads in the investigations.

"These leads are likely to lead to another arrest and we need to confront the information we have with the two arrested accused in front of the person who is likely to be arrested," the officer said. He further told the court that the accused needed to be taken to Delhi for investigations and hence they need their custody.

Defence lawyer Khalid Azmi opposed the police custody saying the ATS was just trying to implicate Taqi, brother of Naqi, in the 13/7 case and hence they had sought extended custody of the accused. Terror had struck Mumbai on July 13 last year when three near-simultaneous blasts ripped through crowded areas in the city killing 27 people.

PTI