Israeli diplomat attack case: Kazmi in 20-day police custody

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Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, arrested for his alleged role in the February 13 Israeli car bombing case, was on Wednesday remanded in police custody for 20 days by a Delhi court.

Kazmi was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Vinod Yadav, who remanded him in police custody till March 27 after the Special Cell of the Delhi police said he was an integral part of the entire conspiracy and his custodial interrogation was necessary as there was possibility of involvement of foreign nationals in the crime.

"The accused (Kazmi) is remanded to police custody till March 27," the CMM said, while allowing the police request for Kazmi's remand for 20 days.

The investigators told the court that the attack was launched in a well-planned manner and it was not an accident.

"The entire incident was not an accidental act as it was done in a well-planned manner," the Delhi Police said.

The prosecutor, however, refused to share all the information in the open court saying the main accused in the case might go out of the reach if all the information about the investigation is disclosed at this stage.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for Kazmi, vehemently opposed the application for his police custody saying the police has not followed the prescribed procedure while arresting his client on Tuesday.

"The court cannot send him (Kazmi) under police custody unless they have a proper case diary and even the arrest is illegal as the men who arrested him were in plain clothes which is in violation of the guidelines of the Supreme Court," he said.

He said the police was branding Kazmi as an international terrorist whereas he is a journalist who had covered the Iraq war and also covers issue related to Iran.

The court, however, brushed aside Aggarwal's contentions and remanded Kazmi in police custody. Kazmi, who claims to have been writing for an Iranian publication, was picked up after a probe showed that he had been in touch with the suspect who is believed to have stuck the magnetic bomb on Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua's car on February 13, official sources were reported as saying today.

Kazmi is alleged to have helped the suspect in conducting the recee of the Israeli Embassy to keep a tab on arrival and departures of the diplomats, the sources said. Police conducted searches at his native place near Delhi, they said.

Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua and an Indian driver of the embassy vehicle, was among four people injured in the blast caused by a magnetic bomb stuck to her vehicle by motorcycle-borne miscreant.