Alleged 26/11 terrorist handler Abu Jundal alias Zabiuddin Ansari was handed over to the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for production before a magistrate in Mumbai, by a Delhi court on Friday. Precedence was given to the pleas by investigating agencies from Maharashtra on the ground that four criminal cases were pending against him there, overruling the National Investigation Agency’s prayer that federal investigators needed his custody for averting strikes allegedly being planned by his associates.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav was approached by the Mumbai and Pune units of the Maharashtra ATS and the Mumbai CID who said that his custody was required for probing the 26/11 case, the German Bakery blast case, the Nasik Police Academy attack case, and the Aurangabad Arms haul case.
Mr. Yadav said: “The accused is required in Mumbai in four cases. This court deems it fit at this stage to transfer the custody of this accused to ATS Mumbai, only for the purpose of production of this accused before the CMM, Mumbai, on July 21 before 4 p.m.”
