New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS): A Delhi court Friday sent a student from Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town, arrested for suspected involvement in the Sep 7 Delhi blast, to the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA) till Oct 7.
Amir Abbas Dev was brought before the NIA special judge H.S. Sharma, and the proceedings were held in-camera.
Dev's court-appointed counsel Ravi Quazi said: "He has been sent to NIA custody till Oct 7. However, the NIA, who named him as a terrorist, is wrong because the things will come to light only after the charge sheet is filed in the case."
The NIA had, in its remand application Thursday, told the court that Dev is one of the conspirators in the bomb blast at gate No 5 of the Delhi High Court complex. A total of 15 people were killed in the blast.
"He (Dev) is one of the conspirators and he needs to be interrogated thoroughly to trace out his and of his other associates' complicity in this terrorist crime," the NIA said.
However, an NIA lawyer said that the agency could not get Dev's remand Thursday as he (Dev) said that he has no family and has no money to hire a lawyer. Therefore, he wanted the court to appoint a defence lawyer for him.
Taking note of Dev's submission, Judge Sharma issued notice to one of the lawyers, Ravi Qazi, directing him to contest the case on behalf of Dev, said a court staffer.
"The NIA has imposed on Dev sections 302 (punishment for murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 and 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt and grievous hurt) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and 3 and 4 of the Explosives Act," states the remand application.
He is also booked for carrying out unlawful activities, it said.
Dev, a B.A. second-year student of Maulana Azad Urdu University, Hyderabad, was arrested Sep 16.
His co-accused Abid Hussain and Shariq Ahmed were arrested Sep 13. Hussain has been sent to the NIA's custody till Oct 5.
The three youths belong to Kishtwar and were arrested after the NIA traced an email sent to media houses a few hours after the Sep 7 Delhi blast to a cyber cafe in the town. The email had claimed that the blast was carried out by the terror group Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI).
Dev had allegedly handed over a portable compact disk to Ahmed and Hussain Sep 4, three days before the blast, with instructions to send the email to media houses after news of the terror attack is flashed on TV screens.
The NIA has announced a reward of Rs.10 lakh for anybody giving information about those behind the blast.