Rourkela: Five arrested SIMI operatives, after end of their Crime Branch remand period, were produced in the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court here Tuesday and sent on a 14-day judicial custody.
While the Special Task Force (STF) officials of the Crime Branch didn’t apply for further remand, National Investigation Agency, Bhopal and a special court of Maharashtra filed petitions in the local court seeking remand of the accused. But the petitions couldn’t be heard Tuesday.
The five terrorists were brought from Bhubaneswar Monday and kept at a police camp in Deogarh. They were taken to a CRPF camp at Lathikata Tuesday morning. Tight security arrangements were made for the shifting of the terrorists to the special jail after the hearing at the SDJM court. Besides, Special Operation Group (SOG) jawans were deployed around the jail as the operatives would stay there for at least 14 days.
Sk Mehboob alias Guddu, his mother Najma Bibi, Amjad Khan, Zakir Hussain and Mohammad Salek were arrested from the residence of Md Usman at Qureshi Mahala here February 17. On a court order, Crime Branch officials took them on remand for 13 days during which period the accused were grilled at an undisclosed location in Bhubaneswar.
Later, they were taken to Nanga Mahala in Bhadrak from where a laptop and some important documents were seized from a rented house. One of the operatives had bought a piece of land in Rourkela during their stay here, it was learnt. It is apprehended that the police might take insurance agent Nabin Sahoo, who helped them in the land purchase, on remand. PNN