Samjhauta case accused remanded in judicial custody

Sharma, lodged in Ajmer jail in Rajasthan after his arrest on May 15, was brought to the court on production warrant.

The NIA told the court that it had completed its investigation on Sharma following which Additional Sessions Judge Kanchan Mahi remanded him in judicial custody.

However, the NIA told the court that it had sufficient evidence against Sharma and the other accused Swami Aseemanand in the Samjhauta Express blast case. 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, were killed in the Samjhauta blast in 2007 at Panipat's Diwana village.
Aseemanand is already in judicial custody in Ambala jail till June 20.

Meanwhile, the court pulled up Rajasthan police for bringing Sharma with his hand cuffed in the court.

The court told the police not to handcuff the accused till it had permission from court. Sharma was sent to Ambala jail under tight security arrangements.

Meanwhile, Aseemanand, whose bail plea was rejected by a sessions court here on May 12, had already denied having made any statement to the NIA about his involvement in the blast.

Aseemanand, through his counsel, had charged the NIA with pressurising and torturing him mentally and physically to extort a statement from him.

Apart from Ajmer Dargah blast, which claimed three lives and left 15 others injured, Aseemanand and Sharma are allegedly accused in several other blast cases across the country, including those at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid and Malegaon.