Pune blast suspect remanded to custody till Jun 14

Abdul Samad Bhatkal, a prime suspect in the Pune German Bakery blast, was on Tuesday remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a local court in connection with a 2009 illegal arms seizure case.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, which had arrested Samad from Mangalore, on Tuesday did not seek his custody and told the court that Samad should be sent to judicial custody.

Although the ATS has not named Samad in the February 13 Pune blast case, Home Minister P Chidambaram had said that he was a prime suspect in the attack, which left 17 people dead.

Samad was arrested from Mangalore on May 24 for allegedly supplying fire arms to three other arrested accused last year.

In August 2009, three persons were arrested from south Mumbai for possession of illegal firearms which, according to the ATS, were supplied by Abdul Samad.

Samad sought bail on the grounds that there were no serious allegations against him and the three other accused, who were arrested in the arms case last year, are already out on bail.

The court rejected the bail application, stating that investigations in the case were still in progress and releasing the accused now would not be safe.