7/11 blasts: Custody of 6 extended, 3 released

A special court on Friday extended till October 26 the police custody of six accused in the July 11 train blasts case.

The six men are Naved Hussain, Mohammed Majid Ahmed Sheikh, Sheikh Mohammmed Ali Alam, Mohammed Shajid Markhat Anzari, Abdul Wahid and Asif Khan Bashir Khan alias Junaid. 

The accused, who were arrested under the Marharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, were produced on Friday before designated judge Mrudula Bhatkar amidst tight security. The court allowed the accused to meet their family members and have home-cooked food in jail.

Asked by the judge if they had any complaints against the police, the accused replied in the negative. One of them, Naved Hussain, said, "I plead that I am innocent and wrongly implicated in the case."

However, the court did not record his statement as the prosecutor said he had said this on an earlier occasion when he was produced before the court. The prosecution later moved an application for a narco-analysis test of three accused -- Sheikh Mohammed Ali Alam, Mohammed Majid and Junaid.

Meanwhile, a local court on Friday discharged three other suspects in the case for want of evidence.

The order came following the Anti-Terrorist Squad moving the court seeking discharge of the trio -- Mumtaz Choudhary, Khalid Ahmed and Akhmal Hashmi.

The ATS had moved an application saying that the trio had been arrested in July for their suspected hands in the serial blasts. However, during investigations, it came to light that there was no evidence against them and therefore they may be discharged from the case.

"Yes we have sought discharge of three accused from the court as investigations revealed that they were not involved in the case," Additional Commissioner (ATS) Jaijit Singh told PTI in Mumbai.

Mumtaz was arrested from Navi Mumbai, while Khalid and Akmal were arrested from Madhubani in Bihar and Srinagar respectively. At the time of arrests, all three were suspected to have provided logistic support to the accused, who had carried out the blasts.

Altogether, 16 accused have been arrested in the case, of which three were discharged on Friday. Thirteen of the accused are in custody under the provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. While announcing crackdown on the case recently, Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy had indicated that three accused, against whom there is no evidence, may be discharged shortly.