Kishtwar student a conspirator in Delhi blast, says NIA

The NIA, which brought Amir Abbas Dev before Additional Sessions Judge H.S. Sharma, said in its remand application that Dev is one of the terrorists who was involved in the bomb blast at gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court complex.

"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 in its remand application.

The NIA sought 15-day remand of Dev and said in its application that the student knows English and Hindi.

Dev, a B.A. second-year student of Maulana Azad Urdu University, Hyderabad, was presented before Judge Sharma for in-camera proceedings.

"However, the NIA could not get remand as he (Dev) said that he has no family members behind him and has no money to hire a lawyer. Therefore, he wants the court to appoint a defence lawyer for him," said a source.

Taking note of Dev's submission, Judge Sharma issued notice to one of the lawyers, directing him to contest the case on behalf of Dev, said a court staffer.

Amit Sharma, NIA counsel, said: "He did not have a lawyer for defence. He has been sent to Tihar Jail. He will be presented before the court Friday."

"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 IPC and 3 & 4 of explosive act," states the remand application.

He is also booked for carrying on unlawful activities, it said.

Besides dev, another suspect held in the blast case from Kishtwar, Abid Hussain, was presented in court and the NIA got his custody till Oct 5. The two along with their alleged associate, Shariq Ahmed, were brought here by the NIA team Wednesday on three days' transit remand from Kashmir.

Hussain was brought to the Patiala House district court complex around 8.30 a.m. and presented before the judge for in-camera proceedings.

"The proceedings went on for around 45 minutes. During the proceedings, the judge asked Hussain about his age, to which he replied that he was a major, not minor. His certificate did not carry his original date of birth," said a court staffer, adding that the NIA has moved an application for in-camera proceedings.

"The NIA sought 15 days' remand to unearth the conspiracy in the Sep 7 blast," said the staffer. The court granted the NIA his custody till Oct 5.

Shariq Ahmed is expected to be presented in court later.

The blast at the Delhi High Court killed 15 people.

Dev was arrested Sep 16 and remanded in police custody for seven days, while
Ahmed and Hussain were arrested Sep 13 and sent to police custody for 10 days.

The accused have been booked under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race or language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 134-A (attack on government servant on duty) of the Indian Penal Code.

The NIA has announced a reward of Rs.10 lakh for anybody giving information about those behind the blast.

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 blast to a cyber cafe in Kishtwar. 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 Shariq Ahmed and Abid 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.