The Maharashtra ATS has filed a report in a metropolitan court in Delhi stating that suspected IM operative Mohammed Qateel Siddiquifound strangulated at Yerawada jail on June 8was sent to jail after his police custody lapsed on May 29,as his identification parade was on May 31. Maharashtra ATS had got Qateel on transit remand from Delhi on May 2. His police remand was extended twice. Investigating agencies had been probing his suspected role in the Chinnaswamy Stadium strike in Bangalore and the Jama Masjid attack in Delhi. His name had also cropped up in an alleged attempt to bomb the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati temple in Pune on the day of the German Bakery blast. Based on the question raised by Qateels lawyer,a metropolitan court in Delhi had asked the ATS to submit a report on why Qateel was not produced before it after his police custody ended on May 29. Amitesh Kumar,Additional Commissioner of Police,ATS,told Newsline,We submitted the report to the court three days ago and we have stated the reasons why he was sent to jail. We have stated that there was nothing illegal about the custody. The report was prepared by Assistant Commissioner of Police Samad Shaikh. The report states that we received his custody on May 2 and was he was placed under arrest on May 3. He was produced before the court and remanded in police custody till May 11. The remand was extended to May 21 and then to May 28. At every stage,we were sending reports of development in Pune to the Delhi court through fax. On the last day of his custody,we asked permission for a test identification parade (TIP). He was sent to Yerawada as police custody was not needed. We had informed the court through fax that he will be produced after the TIP, said an ATS officer. The TIP was conducted on May 31 but one witness did not show up and the transfer had to be delayed. The judicial custody was till July 4, he added.
