NIA gets 8 days custody of Mumbai blast accused Tahir

CBI court handed custody of Tahir Merchant, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case and in fake Indian Currency Notes case in Kerala in 2008, to National Investigation Agency till November 16.

Kochi: A special CBI court today handed over custody of Tahir Merchant, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case and in fake Indian Furrency Notes case in Kerala in 2008, to the National Investigation Agency till November 16 for questioning.

Tahir, brought by train to Kochi at 4.30 AM this morning from Mumbai, admist heavy security, was produced before the court which is hearing NIA cases. A heavy posse of policemen, including Mumbai police personnel were present when he was produced before Special Judge S Vijaykumar in his chamber. Dog and Bomb squad personnel were also present in the court premises. Earlier, on a plea by NIA seeking custody of Tahir for questioning in the fake currency case, the court had issued a warrant on Sept 29 this year, directing Superintendent of the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to produce him on Nov 9 for questioning. Tahir, arrested by CBI in June, is in jail in connection with the Mumbai blast case. Tahir Mohammed, 10th accused in the case, is considered a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon and was working as manager of a carpet ship in Sharjah. He was arrested by CBI following his deportation from Abu Dhabi in June 2010 from the Mumbai airport. According to NIA, information given by him revealed that the source of the fake currency was traced to Ibrahim Bhai, a national of Pakistan. In the FICN case, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Aug 16, 2008, seized counterfeit notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations with a total face value of Rs 72.5 lakh from Mohammed Alshah, who arrived at Kozhikode airport from Ras al-Khaima. Three of his accomplices who had come to receive him at the airport were also arrested. PTI