Singer Ankit Tiwari in judicial custody till May 26

Bollywood playback singer Ankit Tiwari, who was arrested here on charges of allegedly raping his former girlfriend, was Monday remanded in judicial custody till May 26, his lawyer said. "The prosecution sought his police custody as they wanted to recover Tiwari's mobile phone and some clothes. However, Railway Mobile Court Magistrate S.C. Jadhav granted the judicial custody," lawyer Nagesh Mishra told IANS.

Mumbai police arrested Tiwari May 8 and he was granted police custody till May 12, while his brother Ankur secured a bail. The Tiwari brothers have alleged a conspiracy by their professional rivals after Ankit achieved nationwide fame with his popular numbers like "Sun Rahai Hai Tu" in the recent blockbuster, "Aashiqui 2" and other songs. Soon after his arrest last week, Tiwari's family and Mishra contended that Ankit had not met the woman for over a year.

According to Mishra, Tiwari has been charged under Sections 376 (rape), 417 (cheating) and 493 (cohabitation by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage) of the Indian Penal Code.