Police custody of 1993 blast accused Farooq Takla extended

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Mar. 19 (ANI): A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) court in Mumbai on Monday extended the police custody of Dawood Ibrahim's aide Mohamed Takla, alias Farooq Takla.

The court extended custody of Takla, one of the main accused perpetrators of the 1993 serial blasts, till 28th March.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was seeking 14 days Police Custody for Takla to verify and scrutinize his statements given during the investigations as they claimed that he was not co-operating during remand proceedings.

"There is no question of this that he was co-operating or not , as we met him daily with this court's order during his remand but we were never informed that he is not cooperating," said Farook's defence lawyer Farhana Shah.

Further questioning the CBI's methods he said, "CBI has given him the name Farook Takla just to sensationalise the case, his name is just Mohammed Farook, 'Takla' has been added by the CBI."

"He had already been given 11 days in Custody and the CBI itself said that he has given statements so what does the CBI want to do in next 14 days of Police Custody, will they convert his statement into a confession?" added Shah.

The court stated in its order that it feels further custody is needed to get into the depth of the case, as after unearthing further details by going through the case diary, it was clear that it was a crime of serious nature.

There are around 30 absconding accused in this case who are considered the masterminds behind the blasts which rocked the Financial Capital.

Farooq was brought back to Mumbai earlier this month after being deported from Dubai. (ANI)