NEW DELHI, Aug 30 � Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his close associate Asadullah Akhtar were today remanded to 12-day police custody by a Delhi court after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said their custodial interrogation was required to unearth larger conspiracy of terror attacks, reports PTI.
Both the accused were produced in muffled faces before District Judge IS Mehta where NIA sought their 14-day custody for making recoveries related to the case and getting leads for arrest of other absconding co-accused.
Bhatkal, co-founder of the banned terror outfit, is wanted in around 40 terror cases and carries a reward of Rs 35 lakh. He was arrested from Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday night. Yasin, who hails from Bhatkal village of Udupi district in North Karnataka, is wanted in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad.
During today�s proceedings held in-camera, advocate MS Khan, appearing for both the accused, argued that there was no material evidence against them. He also said that one of the accused persons was Mohd Ahmed and not Yasin.
The court, however, allowed NIA�s plea saying, �In these circumstances and looking into contents of the application, I grant police custody to the NIA for 12 days for further investigation.�
