Red Fort blast: Delhi court remands Dr Bilal Malla to judicial custody till Jan 16

New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) A Delhi court on Saturday remanded Dr Bilal Naseer Malla, one of the accused in the November 10 Red Fort blast case, to judicial custody for 13 days till January 16.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) produced Malla at the Patiala House Court amid tight security on Saturday, upon the expiry of his 8-day NIA custody granted on December 26.

Mediapersons were barred from covering the proceedings.

The accused was produced before Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna, who sent Malla to judicial custody till January 16.

NIA arrested Malla in Delhi on December 9 and termed him a key accused in the conspiracy.

According to the NIA probe, Malla knowingly provided logistical support to Dr Umar-un-Nabi, the suicide bomber who was driving the explosive-laden i20 car that blew up outside the Red Fort on November 10, killing 15 people.

Malla is also accused of destruction of evidence related to the terrorist attack, the agency said on December 9.

The NIA has arrested nine people in the case so far, including three doctors – Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and Shaheen Sayeed – and a religious preacher named Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay.

The other five are Malla, Amir Rashid Ali, Soyab, Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish and Yasir Ahmad Dar. MDB MNR ARI