HC refuses to interfere with remand extension of suspected fundamentalists deported from Dubai

The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to reverse an order passed by a special court for National Investigating Agency (NIA) cases on October 10 extending the remand period of four suspected fundamentalists, deported from Dubai last year, from 90 to 180 days.

Justices R. Subbiah and R. Pongiappan dismissed criminal appeals filed by Rafi Ahmed, Munthasir, Mohideen Seeni Shahul Hameed and Faizul Sharief who were among many others detained by the Dubai police in January for suspected links with terrorist organisations al-Qaeda and ISIS.

They were in detention in Dubai for nearly six months and then deported to India in July when the NIA arrested them. Initial probe revealed that they had floated an organisation called Ansarulla and conducted meetings in UAE to establish Islamic rule in India through violent means called Jihad.

Since the NIA had failed to complete the investigation against them within 90 days, one of the four petitioners filed a bail application before the special court. Immediately, the investigating sleuths preferred an application for extension of remand and the court too granted the request.

Aggrieved over such extension, they had approached the High Court alleging that the NIA had not given any convincing reason for seeking such extension and that the special court too had failed to apply its mind before granting such extension.

Rejecting such contention, the judges agreed with NIA Special Public Prosecutor R. Karthikeyan that the remand extension had been sought since the evidence against the petitioners had to be collected from a foreign country which takes considerable amount of time.

The court was also told that the NIA sleuths too had visited Dubai in September to collect the material evidences. Further, the interrogation of the accused had led to seizure of 173 digital devices which had been sent for forensic examination.

Convinced with the reasons, the judges said, “we feel the Special Court is wholly justified in accepting the report of the Special Public Prosecutor to extend the remand period.”