Al-Qaeda suspect sent to NIA custody till Dec 12 by court

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NEW DELHI: A special court on Friday gave the National Investigation Agency the custody of a British national, arrested for allegedly recruiting youths for Al- Qaeda to carry out terror activities, till December 12 for interrogation.

Shamiun Rahman, who is of Bangladeshi origin, was sent to the NIA custody by special judge O P Saini during an in- chamber proceeding after he was produced from Tihar central jail here and the NIA said he needed to be confronted with various evidences in the case, court sources said.

In its application, the NIA is believed to have sought seven-day custody for Rehman which was opposed by the advocate appearing for the accused.

27-year-old Rahman was arrested in September by the Delhi Police for his alleged involvement in recruiting Rohingya Muslims for the terror outfit and train them to fight against the Myanmarese army.

The case was recently transferred from the Delhi police to the NIA.

The accused had earlier moved an application before a city court through advocate M S Khan alleging that he was sexually harassed by the jail security personnel and inhuman behaviour was meted out to him by them.

The court had sought a response from the jail authorities on that application.

The Special Cell of the police had alleged that the process of radicalisation of Rahman alias Raju Bhai began in a jail in London where he was lodged on charges of rash driving.

During this period, he stayed at various madrassas in Kishanganj (Bihar), Hazaribagh (Jharkhand), NCR and other places, the Delhi police had said, adding that the accused had plans to set up base in 
Mizoram or Manipur to train the radicalised youths.

An FIR was filed by the special cell after his arrest under various provisions relating to the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and Passport Act.