NEW DELHI, Apr 25: Suspected Hizbul militant Liyaqat Shah today alleged in a court here that he has been beaten up and tortured by the officials of special cell of Delhi Police during his custody following his arrest.
During an in-chamber proceeding, Shah was produced before District Judge I S Mehta after expiry of his judicial custody and he told the judge that he was beaten up by the police and he has not been able to sleep properly for the last one week due to the assault on him, court sources said.
They also said the court has asked the Superintendent of Tihar Jail, where Shah is currently lodged, to submit the medical report of the accused by tomorrow.
During the hearing, National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought five days’ police remand of Shah saying he has to be taken to Sunauli border, one of India-Nepal crossing points near Gorakhpur, from where he was allegedly arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police, sources said.
The court said it would hear NIA’s plea for police custody of Shah after going through his medical records.
Earlier, the special NIA court had sent Shah to judicial custody till today after a magisterial court here had refused to hear the matter on the ground that his case has been transferred to NIA.
The Delhi Police arrested 45-year-old Shah on March 20, alleging he was planning to carry out terror attacks in the national capital.
The Home Ministry had on March 28 issued a notification facilitating NIA to take over the case related to Shah after his arrest had generated conflicting versions from Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir police.
On April 2, NIA was allowed by the court to interrogate Liyaqat in Tihar Jail till April 30.
While Delhi Police claimed that with Shah’s arrest they had foiled a ‘fidayeen’ (suicide) attack in the national capital ahead of Holi, its J-K counterpart insisted he was one of those who had exfiltrated in 1990s and returned to India to surrender under the state’s rehabilitation policy.
The police had earlier said Shah, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, was apprehended from Indo-Nepal border area near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and had told his interrogators that he is a trained militant of banned terror group Hizbul Mujahideen and was settled in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Police had said in January 2013, Shah and his associate Manzoor, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, were directed by top ranks of Hizbul to carry out terror attacks in Delhi.
It had said that upon disclosure of the accused, a huge consignment of arms, hand grenades and explosive material were recovered from a guest house in Jama Masjid area here. It had said that his associates, including Manzoor, are absconding.
Delhi Police said a case was registered under sections 120 B(criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against government of India), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences against the State) and 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) of IPC against them.
According to Delhi Police, Shah had planned attacks to avenge the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
J-K Police, however, had supported the claims of Shah’s family that he was a former militant who had surrendered before SSB on the Nepal border and was in a group returning from PoK under the rehabilitation policy. (PTI)
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