ISIS admirer Ansari is of unsound mind, court told

Mumbai, Oct 31: The lawyers of city-based software engineer Anees Ansari, arrested for allegedly conspiring to blow up a US establishment, on Friday told the court that the accused suffered from an unsound mind and may need psychiatric help.

"We have moved an application in the court seeking permission that he may be sent to psychiatrist counselling as he was of unsound mind, said Ansari's lawyer Chirag Shah. Shah said that Ansari's parents have said that he used to get very hyper even on trivial things.

"The court is likely to pass an order on our application next week," said Ansari's another lawyer Shahid Nadeem. Meanwhile, the court today remanded Ansari to judicial custody till November 14.

According to police, Ansari admired the middle east terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The online chats of Ansari, whose office job involved designing navigation maps, hinted at a plot to target US establishments including a school in suburban Bandra, the ATS had said.

Ansari was booked under section 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) read with 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code, and relevant sections of Information Technology Act.

A resident of suburban Kurla, Ansari had applied for a passport a month ago, which has led the investigators to suspect that he planned to leave the country to support/join the ISIS.

PTI