The Judicial Magistrate-3, Vellore, Sivakumar on Friday extended till October 17 the police custody of Fakruddin alias ‘Police’ Fakruddin, who was arrested in Chennai recently in connection with the murders of Hindu outfit leaders, including S. Vellaiyappan in Vellore on July 1.
The Magistrate also directed the Crime Branch CID to produce the accused in the court on October 18. He allowed Pugazhendhi, counsel for Fakruddin, to meet the accused in the office of Crime Branch CID in Vellore on October 15 for 15 minutes.
Pugazhendhi was allowed to meet Fakruddin for half an hour in the court hall on Friday in response to a petition he submitted to the court on October 8. The court while dismissing the petition of the counsel to meet the accused during police interrogation allowed him to meet during his production in court on Friday. Pugazhendhi, however, refused to divulge the details of the meeting with the accused. Earlier in the day, Bilal Malik, another accused in the case, who was in police custody till October 17 was produced before JM-3 as per the orders of the court issued on Sunday when the accused was produced at the magistrate’s residence. The court directed the CB CID to produce in him in the court on October 18. Pugazhendhi was also allowed to meet the accused for half-an-hour in the court hall.
The CB CID police produced in the court the motorcycle used by the accused for committing the murder of Vellaiyappan. It was seized from the hideout in Puttur in Andhra Pradesh where Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail were arrested in a special operation jointly conducted by the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh police on Saturday.
