Mumbai: Court extends ATS custody of five PFI accused till October 8

A special court on Monday extended the custodial interrogation with the AntiTerrorism Squad (ATS) till Saturday of five men arrested by it alleged to be the members of Popular Front of India (PFI).

The five men - Mazhar Khan, adv. Sadiq Qureishi, Mohd Iqbal Khan, Moinuddin Momin and Aasif Khan were produced before the court on Monday.

The ATS sought an extension of eight days custody from the court after the previous custodial interrogation period of eight days ended on Monday. It told the court it needed their custody to examine their social media accounts among other grounds.

Regarding Qureishi, the ATS said he had received Rs 13,000-40,000 from another co-accused in 2013. Over this, his advocate Mohd Ibrahim told the court that the amount was taken as a loan as he was suffering health issues and that it was later repaid.

The ATS also alleged that Qureishi had organised legal camps and hence his custodial interrogation was required. Adv. Ibrahim argued that providing legal aid or organising such camps are not terror activities.

Last Monday, while seeking their custody for investigation, the ATS had told the court that it needs to probe their links with the terror organisation Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS). On Monday, it made no mention of any probe findings on this aspect while seeking further custody.

Published on: Tuesday, October 04, 2022, 09:55 AM IST