CBI gets custody of mosque blast accused

HYDERABAD: A local court on Monday granted the CBI a 10-day custody of Devender Gupta, the accused in the Mecca masjid blast case.
Responding to the petition filed by the CBI, the 14th additional chief metropolitan magistrate of the Nampally courts complex granted the custody of Devender Gupta till June 30. Immediately after the custody was granted, CBI officials moved the accused to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Meanwhile, the court posted the hearing on CBI’s plea for identification parade of the second accused, Lokesh Sharma, to June 23.
Sources said that CBI already had some clinching evidence against Devender Gupta but not much against Lokesh. So, in order to strengthen the evidence against Lokesh, CBI is planning for an ID parade before some witnesses who claimed to have seen him during his visits to the city prior to the blasts.
One of the SIM cards purchased by Devender was used in the IED planted at Mecca mosque. Lokesh had also contacted key conspirators over phone from Indore. “However, the evidence against him so far is not strong, said an official.
On Monday, CBI added one more name, Sunil Joshi, to the list of the accused, taking the total to five. The other accused are Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange besides Davender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma. The agency has also moved a petition for inclusion of section 23 of Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act in the case registered against the accused. If proved guilty under the Act one has to undergo a minimum imprisonment of five years which might get extended to a life term.