Pota applied to bomb blast accused

MUMBAI: Mumbai police on Friday invoked POTA against four persons, alleged to have planned and executed a bomb blast in suburban Ghatkopar on December 2 that claimed two lives and left 31 others injured, even as a local court further remanded them to police custody till January 17.
Though the accused were initially charged under IPC sections 302 (Murder), 120-B (Conspiracy), 307 (Attempt to Murder), 427 (Mischief Causing Damage to Property) and 34 (Common Intention), the police on Friday also charged them under Pota and Arms Act.
The accused are also booked under section 5 and 9 (b) of Indian Explosives Act, section 3 of Explosive Substances Act and section 3 of Public Property Destruction Prevention Act.
The four accused --Mohammed Abdul Mateen Abdul Baseed (28), Sayeed Khwaja Yunus Sayeed Khwaja Ayub (28), Shaikh Mohammed Muzamil Zamil Ahmed (27) and Zaheer Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Shaikh (27)-- were today produced in the court of sessions judge A P Bhangale amid tight security.
Mateen was picked up from Aurangabad where he was working as a lecturer in a government medical college. Earlier, he was working as a lecturer in the government-run JJ hospital here.