Foreign hand possible behind Israeli diplomat attack: Cops

The Delhi police on Wednesday told a court in New Delhi that the conspiracy of Israeli diplomat car bombing case was hatched outside India and the possibility of foreign hands in it cannot be ruled out.

The special cell of the Delhi police disclosed it before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav who remanded Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, arrested for his alleged role in the February 13 car bombing case, to police custody till March 27.

"He (Kazmi) is one of the conspirators of this wider conspiracy. This is a case of international terrorism. It is not necessary that only Indians are involved in this case and there is a possibility that some foreign nationals might be involved in the case," said public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan.

He said the conspiracy was hatched outside India but refused to elaborate upon it in the open court saying the main accused, who is yet to be arrested, could take benefits of it if the facts are revealed at this stage.

"We have already recorded statement of the eyewitnesses of the incident. The conspiracy was hatched outside India, We do not want to disclose all the information in the open court as the main accused, who is yet to be arrested, could go out of the reach of the probe agency," the prosecutor said.

Seeking 20 days remand for Kazmi for his custodial interrogation, Mohan said the IED was used for the explosion and everything was done in a well-planned manner.

"The IED was planted for the explosion and this was not an accidental act. Everything was carried out in a well-planned way. We need 20 days' police custody of the accused to unearth the entire conspiracy. The investigation is going on and some more accused are yet to be arrested," he said.

Opposing the police plea for Kazmi's custody, his counsel Vijay Aggarwal accused the police of forging documents related to the timing of his arrest and sought a probe into the matter against the concerned officials.

Aggarwal said police has not produced a proper case diary in the court and Kazmi's arrest was illegal as the men who was arrested him were in plain clothes. "The documents which have been produced by the police have been forged and the timing of his arrest, mentioned in it is false. This calls for an inquiry. Please see the call detail records of the police officials as well as the accused."

"Even the arrest is illegal as the men who arrested him were in plain clothes which is in violation of the guidelines of the Supreme Court," he argued.

Refusing to accept the police file as the case diary, the counsel said, "Where is the case diary? No case diary has been produced and without it, the judge cannot extend the remand. Just because they (police) come and speak high-sounding words like international terrorism, it does not mean that remand of an accused should be granted to the police."

He said Kazmi was made a scapegoat by the police as the agency, under pressure to crack the case, has arrested a journalist, who had covered Iraq war and also used to visit Iran embassy. "They (police) are saying that I am an international terrorist but I must say I am a national hero. I am a journalist and had covered Iraq war for DD news channel.

"I have been a scapegoat because the police was under a huge pressure from all fractions to solve this case," Aggarwal said, after getting court's nod to have a brief with Kazmi.

Citing the Delhi high court rules, the defence counsel said a magistrate should ensure that the police produces the FIR copy and other materials in the court for it to decide its plea for the custody of the accused, who must be heard during the process.

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