Kolkata, Mar 14 (IANS): The Basirhat sub-divisional court in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Thursday extended the CBI custody of Sheikh Shahjahan, the accused mastermind behind the attack on ED and CAPF teams on January 5, by another eight days.

The CBI counsel on Thursday also moved a plea seeking the custody of seven other individuals, who were earlier arrested by the district police in connection with the same case. The judge of the sub-divisional court approved the plea and remanded the seven persons to five-day CBI custody.

Opposing the bail plea moved by Shahjahan’s counsel, the CBI counsel argued that if granted bail, the accused can influence the investigation, which will hurt the case.

However, the counsel for the accused argued that the CBI cannot seek an extension of Shahjahan's custody since he has already spent over 14 days in custody, first under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police, and subsequently under the CBI.

After hearing the arguments, the judge of the district court extended Sahjahan's custody by eight days, instead of the 14 days sought by the CBI.