London: Iqbal Mirchi, the right hand man of
underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and an accused in the 1993
Mumbai serial blasts, was on Thursday remanded to judicial custody
by a British court after he was charged with threatening to
kill a man, police sources said.
61-year-old Mirchi, who was arrested from Romford in
Essex on Tuesday, was produced at Red Bridge Magistrate Court
here today and remanded to judicial custody, the sources said.
Iqbal has been charged with threatening to kill
41-year-old Nadeem Kader.
After his arrest, he was questioned in the east London
police station.
Mirchi is wanted by Mumbai police in connection with
cases related to drug peddling and 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.
In New Delhi, an official spokesperson in the Ministry of
External Affairs said yesterday that the extradition process
was being initiated for him.
A Red Corner notice for the arrest of Mirchi had been
issued and continues to be valid, "which means that he is a
wanted person and that we do seek his extradition back to
India. The processes involved for his extradition are being
initiated," the spokesperson said.
Mirchi, who in the past has denied being involved in
organised crime or terrorism, was earlier arrested by Scotland
Yard in 1995 on drugs and terrorism charges in connection with
a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993.
The charges were later replaced by one relating to the
murder of a former Mirchi employee, who was shot dead in
India. But an extradition request was refused by magistrates
who ruled there was no case to answer.
PTI
