Madurai: The Melur Judicial Magistrate Court on Tuesday issued transit warrants for NIA officials to transfer the 4 terror suspects from Madurai to Bengaluru for producing them at a NIA special court there.
The NIA team headed by Superintendent of Police Pratibha Ambedkar, produced Abbas Ali (27) from Ismailpuram, Samsum Karim Raja from K Pudur, Mohammed Ayud Ali (25) from Island Nagar and Shamsudeen (25) from Nelpatti before the judicial magistrate Selvakumar seeking transit warrants around 3.40 pm.
Appearing for the NIA, the public prosecutor, Arjun told the court that the 4 had indulged in 5 bomb blast cases reported in court complexes in Chittoor, Kollam and Malappuram in Kerala, Mysuru and Nellore in 2006.
“They have committed serious crime against the judiciary,” Arjun told the judicial magistrate. He further said that the NIA had taken up the investigation after the bomb blast case in Mysuru court was transferred to the agency.
Countering their arguments, advocate SMA Jinnah, who appeared for the 4 Muslim youth, claimed that they were innocents and were wrongly implicated in this case.
The advocate also argued that the NIA officials had also violated the D K Basu guidelines in arresting them. “The officials secured them on November 27, but they weren’t produced within 24 hours of the arrest in the court, and also failed to intimate their parents,” he said adding that the NIA officials had tortured the suspects in custody.
Refuting his arguments, Arjun said that they did not torture the suspects.
Though the NIA officials picked them up from their houses, they were arrested only on Monday evening after the 4 had confessed to the crime during the inquiry. The NIA also informed their family members about their arrest, the PP said.
Submitting relevant documents to the magistrate, Arjun said that they were not asking for remand, but only to issue permit warrant to produce them in NIA court in to Bengaluru.
The magistrate directed the NIA to produce the four terror suspects before 5.45 pm on December 1.
He also allowed the parents to interact with the four youth for a few minutes inside the court hall before they were sent with NIA officials.
