ATS to bring Malegaon blast suspect Pandey to Mumbai

Lucknow, Nov 13 (IANS) The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Mumbai Police was set to take Dayanand Pandey, arrested Wednesday in connection with the Malegaon bomb blast, to Mumbai for interrogation as a court here Thursday granted his transit remand till Nov 16.

Believed to be a vital link among the nine people arrested earlier in connection with the Malegaon blast, Pandey was nabbed from Kanpur by a joint team of the Mumbai ATS and its Uttar Pradesh counterpart.

As Thursday was a public holiday, the ATS produced Pandey before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Mukesh Kumar Singh at his residence.

The CJM granted the ATS a transit remand till 4 p.m. Nov 16.

'The ATS team will soon leave for Mumbai along with Pandey for further interrogations,' Uttar Pradesh ATS head Additional Director General of Police Brijlal told reporters.

Six people were killed in the low-intensity blast in the Maharashtra town of Malegaon late Sep 29 night.

Pandey, also known as Amritanand Swami, was the peethadheeshwar or head of the Sharda Sarvagya Peeth in Jammu Tawi, police said.

Pandey, a native of Varanasi, had been living in Jammu for a long time and came to Kanpur last week, police said.

After his arrest, he was brought to Lucknow late Wednesday and the arrest was made after a Nasik court issued the arrest warrant.