 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Nine activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, arrested in connection with the Ahmedabad serial blasts case, were on Sunday remanded to police custody for 14 days by a local court.
Metropolitan Magistrate J K Pandya passed the remand order after police sought their custody for interrogation to unravel the conspiracy behind the blasts in which 55 people had lost their lives.
Coverage: The Ahmedabad Blasts
The accused -- Jahid Sheikh, Yunus Mansuri, Shamsuddin Sheikh, Arif Kadri, Gyasuddin, Imran, Usman Agarbattiwala, Iqbal Sheikh and Sajid Mansuri -- are all in the age group of 20-25 years.
The mastermind of the blast Mufti Abu Bashir, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, was brought to the city on Saturday night on a three-day transit remand.
Gujarat cops crack serial blasts case
Earlier, a lawyer representing some of the accused submitted in the court that his clients were innocent.
"Police have shown arrests of all my clients yesterday but they were in police custody since July 31. So, the court should not give further remand," Hasim Qureshi said.
Blasts probe reveals split within Indian society
The court room was filled with relatives of the accused and security personnel.
The Gujarat police on Saturday claimed to have cracked the blasts case with the arrest of Abu Bashir, the alleged mastermind, from Uttar Pradesh, and nine others belonging to the SIMI.