Delhi court issues production warrant against Abu Jundal

The Tihar Jail authorities were asked by a Delhi court to produce LeT terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai attack key handler Abu Jundal before it in a case lodged by the NIA against him.

New Delhi: The Tihar Jail authorities were on Monday asked by a Delhi court to produce LeT terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai attack key handler Abu Jundal before it in a case lodged by the NIA against him for allegedly conspiring to launch terror strikes across the country.

District Judge IS Mehta, who had on November 3 ordered for Jundal`s production before it for today, issued production warrant against him for tomorrow after he could not appear before it, the court sources said. Jundal was in judicial custody in connection with an FIR lodged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) following unearthing of a Lashkar-e-Toiba`s (LeT) conspiracy for terror strikes across the country. Gujarat ATS had earlier taken Jundal`s custody for questioning on his alleged role in the 2006 Karanawati Express train blast at Ahmedabad station. Jundal is alleged to be one of the main conspirators of the blast. The court on October 20 had remanded Jundal to judicial custody after the NIA had said he was not required for further custodial interrogation in connection with the case. Prior to that Jundal had been handed over to the ATS Mumbai after the Delhi Police had said he was no longer required to be interrogated by it in the Jama Masjid attack case. Mumbai ATS had secured his custody in connection with the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem, the 2010 German bakery blast and the Nasik Academy attack. He was brought back to Delhi by the Mumbai ATS which had produced him before a magisterial court here on October 4. The Delhi police had earlier filed a charge sheet against Jundal accusing him of being involved in terror activities across India to avenge the alleged atrocities against Muslims, particularly those committed during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The charge sheet filed by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Prakash, had said Jundal disclosed that he along with LeT chief Zaki-ur-Rehman alias Lakhvi, monitored the 26/11 attacks from a control room set up at Malir in Karachi, Pakistan. The charge sheet said after his arrest from the IGI Airport here on June 21 this year, Jundal, during questioning, had admitted to his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The Delhi Police had said this in a supplementary charge sheet in the Jama Masjid blast case in which 11 alleged members of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) were charge sheeted earlier. PTI