Madani's wife held after court rejects bail plea

Soofiya Madani, wife of PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani, was today arrested from her residence shortly after the Kerala high court dismissed her anticipatory bail application, in connection with the burning of a Tamil Nadu bus in the state in September 2005.

Soofiya was named as the tenth accused by the Kerala police recently after the interrogation of suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militant T Nazir, who was picked up by the Bangladesh Rifles along with an associate, and handed over to Indian security agencies.

Her arrest came as Justice KT Sankaran dismissed her bail plea stating that, prima facie, there was evidence that terrorism took place, and there were serious allegations against the petitioner of waging war against the country.

Within minutes of the verdict, she was arrested and taken away amid slogans raised in her support by PDP activists, according to police.