Masjid blast accused face attack threat

The Mecca Masjid blast accused, Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma of Abhinav Bharat, were lodged in the Chanchalaguda jail on Thursday after the CBI expressed fears that they would be attacked by jihadi terrorists in the Charlapally jail.

The 14th Additional CMM court on Thursday accepted the CBI request to lodge them in separate cells in Chanchalguda jail. The city police had alerted the CBI about the danger of attacks. Devender and Lokesh, who are accused in Ajmer blasts too, were brought to the city amid tight security on Thursday on a prisoner transit warrant issued by the court earlier. The two had been arrested by Rajasthan police and lodged in Ajmer jail.

“We filed a petition seeking a separate cell for the accused as there is a serious risk for their life from the other prisoners in Charlapally jail,” said the CBI senior prosecutor Mr T.V. Ramana. However, the Chanchalguda jail superintendent, Mr Chandrasekhar, said the possibility of such attacks were also there in his prison.

It is learnt that the Chanchalaguda jail authorities may write to the court and CBI asking that the accused be shifted to some other prison. Intelligence agencies have also alerted that there is a risk for the life of the accused from the absconding Tehreek Galba E islam suspect Vikar Ahmed. Tight security was clamped at the Nampally Court where the duo was produced. Task Force sleuths, City police armed reserve, and quick reaction teams were deployed.

The CBI alleged in its memo before the court that Devender used a fake driving license to buy SIM card which was used to trigger the blast in the masjid. Another unexploded bomb was recovered at the blast site. Two other accused in the case, Sandeep Dangde and Ramchandra Kalsangara, who allegedly made the bombs, are absconding. Meanwhile, the city police commissioner, Mr A.K. Khan, said police did not arrest anyone in the city in connection with the Mecca Masjid blasts.