IRF case: Khan’s, Qureshi’s custody extended to Sept 11

Considering the gravity of the offence, the magistrate court has remanded the accused to three days police custody till September 11

The holiday magistrate court on Friday extended police custody of Islamic Research Foundation’s (IRF) guest relation officer Arshi Qureshi and Kalyan-based maulvi Rizwan Khan till September 11. The duo have been booked for alleged radicalisation of youths who later left to join ISIS.

The holiday court however, denied the crime branch’s request for police custody of Mohammed Haneef a maulavi from Kerala and asked them to approach the regular court after the holidays.

The crime branch intended to interrogate and confront all the three accused together. Hence, they had approached the court on Tuesday for custody of Haneef, who is presently in judicial custody. However, on Tuesday as the regular magistrate was on leave, the in-charge magistrate asked the crime branch to wait and appeal before the regular magistrate and adjourned the case till September 9. On Friday too, the agency was disappointed and might have to wait till the court reopens after the holidays.

Meanwhile, the agency produced Qureshi and Khan before the court and pleaded for extension of their police custody for further investigation. The crime branch officer said that they need to interrogate the accused further to trace the entire network. Considering the gravity of the offence, the magistrate court has remanded the accused to three days police custody till September 11.