KARACHI, Feb 24: Court of Judicial Magistrate East, Ganhwar Khan Gadehi Saturday extended the remand of the three alleged suspects of Al-Qaeda in police custody till February 28.

Mohammed Shahid alias Kashif, Mohammed Farhan alias Nasir and Ghani Subhan alias Rashid, are charged with allegedly planning to carry out suicide attack during the forthcoming Chehlum procession in the metropolis.

The CID police arrested them after an encounter from Gulistan-e-Johar, on February 16 and recovered a Kalashnikov, two TT pistols, three hand-grenades and a jacket used by suicide bombers from their possession. Police said they were members of Qari Zafar group, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and was trained in South Wazistan Agency.

According to police, initial investigations revealed they were planning a suicide attack in Karachi on the day the chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussein (RA) was observed. Police said the group planned to carry out suicide attacks during the IDEAS 2006 exhibition in November and the Ashura procession but could not do so because of tight security measures. The police said the arrested men had disclosed the names of six other accomplices namely Tariq, Faisal, Ijaz, Naveed, Umer and Javed, who are still at large.

The court fixed February 28 for next hearing of the case.