CHENNAI: A member of the banned terror outfit Al-Umma, Raja was arrested by a special team of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Coimbatore City Police from Vijayapuram district in Karnataka on July 9.
Raja was also an accused in the 1996 petrol bomb attack in Coimbatore, which resulted in the death of jail warder Boopalan, the Sayeeda murder case in Nagore in 1996, and the murder of jailor Jayaprakash in Madurai in 1997.
Hailing from Bilal Estate in South Ukkadam, Coimbatore, Raja was known by various names, including Sadiq alias ‘Valarntha’ Raja, alias Shajahan Abdul Majid Makandar, and Shahjahan Shaik.
Following his arrest, Raja was remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison. Meanwhile, the ATS sleuths moved the Judicial Magistrate Court seeking ten days' custody of Raja to interrogate him on his terror links.
As the custody plea came up for hearing on Wednesday, Raja was produced in court amidst tight police security. He then sought the court for a direction to police to provide medical intervention for migraine as and when necessary during police custody.
Judicial Magistrate E Virgin Vesta granted five-day custody of Raja and directed the police to produce him on July 21. The police were also asked to file a status report in the court every two days. Following this, Raja was taken to an unknown place for questioning amidst a police escort.