Police custody of LeT operative nabbed by Maharashtra ATS extended

A local court today extended the police custody of Shaikh Lalbaba Mohammed Hussain alias Bilal an alleged operative of Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT nabbed by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in Nashik last week.

The 27-year-old was arrested for allegedly preparing to carry out terror attacks in Maharashtra. He was today produced before chief judicial magistrate KD Boche on the expiry of his ATS custody. His police custody was extended till September 20.

The ATS officials sought the custody extension stating that additional 700 grams of RDX was recovered from him during the probe and they want to interrogate him more over his stay in Pakistan and Bangladesh, said public prosecutor Ajay Misar.

According to the ATS, Bilal had visited LeT camps in Pakistan between January 2008 and early 2010 where he received advanced training in use of sophisticated weapons and making bombs. He had sneaked into India three times during the period through the porous Bangladesh and Nepal borders.

Bilal conducted a recee of the army's Deolali camp, the Maharashtra police academy and the police commissionerate in Nashik since May this year, it said.

Bilal is linked to Mirza Himayat Baig, 29, another LeT operative arrested for the February 13 Pune bomb blast. Bilal is alleged to have provided logistical support to Baig, but the former has not been charged in the Pune blast that killed 17 persons.