The Hindu : Front Page : 14-day police remand for nine arrested in Gujarat

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Monday, Aug 18, 2008
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14-day police remand for nine arrested in Gujarat

Manas Dasgupta

Qasmi, who was arrested in U.P., to be produced in court tomorrow

Modi seeks early passage of Bill against organised crime
Why police failed to prevent blasts despite warnings: Vaghela

Photo: AP

One of the accused in the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts being taken to a court in Ahmedabad on Sunday. —

AHMEDABAD: The metropolitan court here on Sunday granted 14-day police remand to the nine persons arrested in connection with July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts.

The crime branch police produced the nine people before Judge J.K. Pandya and sought their remand. The court permitted the police to produce the accused with hand-cuffs on in view of the “dangerous nature” of their activities and the fear of them attempting to escape from custody.

The tenth person arrested, Abul Bashar Qasmi, said to be the “mastermind” behind the blasts here and planting of bombs in Surat, was brought here on Sunday along with a team of the Uttar Pradesh police.

He was arrested at Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Already on a three-day transit remand granted by a Lucknow court, Qasmi would be produced before the Ahmedabad court on Tuesday.

Counsel’s opposition

While government pleader N.H. Saini sought 14-day police custody, counsel for the accused, Hasim Qureshi, opposed the remand, saying that as the accused were arrested between July 27 and August 2, there was no need for any further remand.

The nine produced before the court were Javed Sheikh, Yunus Mansuri, Samsuddin Sheikh, Arif Quadri, and Gyasuddin Sheikh (all arrested here), and Imran, Usman Agarbattiwala, Iqbal Sheikh and Sajid Msnsuri, all picked up from Vadodara.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the performance of the police and the coordinated efforts to crack the terror network in such a short time.

He, along with Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, held a meeting with the top police officials in Gandhinagar. Mr. Modi requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure early passage of the Gujarat Bill against organised crime, which was awaiting presidential assent for nearly four years.

Waghela’s charge

Union Textile Minister Shankersinh Vaghela, however, demanded that the Gujarat police submit a detailed note on how they failed to prevent the blasts here, despite warnings from the central intelligence agencies.

He accused the police of having “deliberately planted” the bombs in Surat to divert the people’s attention.

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