KARACHI, Feb 28: Court of Judicial Magistrate East, Ganhwar Khan Gadehi, on Wednesday sent three Al Qaeda suspects to jail till March 2.

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

CID police had arrested them from Gulistan-i-Jauhar after an encounter on February 16 and recovered a Kalashnikov, two TT pistols, three hand-grenades and a suicide bombing jacket from their possession. Police claimed they were members of Qari Zafar group, affiliated with Al Qaeda.

According to police, initial investigations revealed they were planning a suicide attack in Karachi on the day of Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA). Police said the group had also planned to carry out suicide attacks during IDEAS 2006 in November 2006 and Ashura procession but could not do so because of the tight security measures.

The accused have also disclosed the names of their six accomplices Tariq, Faisal, Ijaz, Naveed, Umer and Javed, who are still at large. Police claimed that the group had planned to target the leaders of different religious parties. The court has fixed March 2 for the next hearing.