Hyderabad blast: Suspect taken into judicial custody

Sohaib Jagirdar was arrested from his residence at Jalna for trying to procure a passport in a fictitious name for 'jehadi purpose'.

The man who was arrested from Maharashtra in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast was taken into custody under the Passport Act, according to a Special Investigation Cell (SIC) source.

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Sohaib Jagirdar was arrested on Saturday from his residence at Jalna in Maharashtra for trying to procure a passport in a fictitious name for "jehadi purpose", the source in SIC, probing the May 18 bomb blast, said on Sunday.

During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Jagirdar was a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) cadre Nayeem alias Sameer, the source said.

Sameer, an accused in the 2006 Aurangabad (Maharashtra) arms-haul case, was arrested early this year by the BSF in West Bengal, while allegedly helping two Pakistani mercenaries cross over into India through the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Sameer's custody was taken by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Mumbai police on April 24 from BSF.

The source said Sameer had visited Hyderabad in February and he and Jagridar stayed in a house in Hyderabad to secure a passport for "jehadi purpose" by furnishing forged documents.

For this, the duo had sought the assistance of a local passport agent, the source added.