The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) got further custody of the alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) founder-member,Sadiq Sheikh for his role in the 7/11 serial train blasts case. The special MCOCA court extended Sheikhs police custody till March 21. Sheikh was arrested by the Mumbai Polices Crime Branch for his alleged role in the serial blasts across the country. The ATS had sought Sheikhs custody after the Mumbai Police chargesheeted 21 alleged IM operatives for sending terror mails to media houses claiming responsibility for the Delhi and Ahmedabad blasts using unsecured Wi-Fi connections in the city. The Crime Branch in the chargesheet had also stated that these IM men were also allegedly involved in the blasts across the country since 2005,including blasts in Mumbai. Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thackeray said,During the custodial interrogation of Sheikh,the ATS had got some leads and his further interrogation was required to probe thoroughly. So his further custody was sought. Sheikh had given a confession to the Gujarat Police regarding his involvement in the train blast case. However,he retracted the statement before the special judge Y D Shinde,saying the confession was given by him under duress. He said that a man called Atif from Azamgarh in UP had coerced him to give the statement. Reports had also said that though Sheikh had told ATS that he did have a hand in the July 2006 train blasts,subsequent scientific tests such as brain mapping and polygraph showed that he could have been lying to mislead the investigations.
