Mecca Masjid blast accused remanded in custody

A special CBI court in Hyderabad on Monday remanded Devender Gupta, a prime suspect in Mecca Masjid bomb blast case to the CBI custody till June 30 for questioning.

The CBI immediately took him in to custody and shifted him from Chanchalguda Central Jail where he along with another suspect Lokesh Sharma was lodged in judicial custody since Thursday last.

Lokesh Sharma, however, will remain in jail as CBI's petition for his identification parade was still pending and the court was likely to pass the order on Wednesday.

The orders remanding came after CBI had moved a petition in the court on Friday last seeking the custody of the suspect for questioning in connection with three year old case of bomb blast in Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid.

CBI sources said that they want to question Devender Gupta primarily about the role he had played in the terror attack and about the other members of his terror module.

They were especially keen to know the whereabouts of Ramachandra Kalsangra alis Ramji and Sandeep Dange who according to the agency had played a key role in arranging explosives, assembling bombs and planting them. Both Ramji and Dange have been named as accused No. 1 and 2 in the case.

Gupta, who along with Lokesh Sharma, was lodged in Central Jail since Thursday last, was taken away by a CBI team for questioning.

Sources also said that depending on the outcome of Gupta's interrogation, the CBI may consider bringing the accused of Malegaon blast and members of Abhinav Bharat dismissed Colonel Srikant Purohit, Sadhavi Pragya Thakunr and Swami Dayanand to Hyderabad.

According to the sources, Gupta and Sharma, carrying shoulder bags with bombs, had entered Mecca Masjid on May 4 and 11 but could not plant them due to the presence of the people and the police in large number. On May 18, they left two bombs, one under a marble platform and the other at another spot in the sprawling court yard of the mosque.

They heard the news of the bomb explosion on television and immediately left Hyderabad by bus.

Image: Lokesh Sharma in custody.

Photograph: Snaps India