B'lore blasts suspect shifted to high-security egg cell

PUNE: The Yerawada central jail authorities have shifted Moulana Hussain Shabbir Moinuddin Gangavali, a suspect in the Bangalore serial blasts case, to the high-security oval-shaped egg' ( anda') cell.
Jail officials requesting anonymity said that Gangavali, who was earlier kept with other inmates, was lodged in the separate cell as there was a threat to his life from other prisoners.The other inmates harassed and ill-treated him because of his suspected role in the blasts, the sources added.
Gangavali (29), a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka, was picked up by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Pune from the Janwadi mosque off Senapati Bapat road on December 30, 2008 in connection with the July 2008 blasts.
Jail superintendent Rajendra Dhamne on Wednesday told TOI that Gangavali was lodged in the cell after he was remanded to magisterial custody in a fake currency notes case. However, Dhamne refused to divulge the reasons behind the move. "I cannot disclose any more details about it right now," he said.
Pune ATS chief inspector Peter Lobo said his office had not requested the jail authorities to keep Gangavali in a special cell. Lobo added that it was the sole discretion of the prison department to keep Gangavali in any cell of their choice.
The Karnataka police will soon seek Gangavali's custody in the blasts case and the jail does not to want to take any risk, the officials said.
"The department has hence decided to keep Gangavali separately in the oval-shaped high security cell. No one is allowed to meet him without the jail superintendent's permission," the officials added.
ATS sources had earlier told TOI that they are probing Gangavali's links with Riyaz Bhatkal and Touqueer Ahmed, wanted in connection with the bomb blasts in Bangalore, New Delhi and Hyderabad.
The ATS had allegedly recovered 250 fake notes of Rs 100 denomination from Gangavali. ATS assistant sub-inspector Rajendra Thorve, who had arrested Gangavali after receiving a tip-off, registered a case of possessing fake notes against him under sub-sections 489 (a), (b), and (k) of the Indian Penal Code.
The blasts in Bangalore killed two people and injured 20 on July 25 last year. The ATS had also detained Gangavali's brother-in-law Nasir Shaikh, an autorickshaw driver, from his residence at Janwadi, but he was released after an inquiry.
Previous occupants of the cell:
* Fake stamp paper scam mastermind Abdul Karim Telgi
* Actor Sanjay Dutt and his friend Yusuf Nalwala, convicted for possessing fire arms in the Mumbai bomb blasts case
* ISI agent Sayed Ahmed Mohammed Desai of Pakistan and ex-serviceman Shailesh Jadhav, arrested for leaking classified army documents