PESHAWAR: An Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Judge Ibrahim Khan on Wednesday remanded a thirteen-year-old suicide bomber Bilal into police custody for one week and directed for a report about his physical status and age.

The alleged teenage bomber was arrested on Tuesday along with his handler Jahangir from Sarband area on Bara Road, after the Bomb Disposal Squad successfully removed and diffused his suicide vest.

The media was not allowed inside the court, however, the police and other sources present inside the court told that Bilal had given a statement to the court that he was forced to carry the explosive-lade vest by Jahangir on the pretext that it contained cannabis and he had to deliver it to someone at the Bacha Khan International Airport’s gate.

The sources quoted Bilal as saying, “Jahangir had paid me Rs 15000 out of which I gave Rs10000 to my mother and spent Rs 2000 while Rs 3000 are still in my pocket.”

Bilal, according to the sources, had told the court that Jahangir was a school teacher in Bara and used to engage kids through various tactics to carry out illegal acts and he had also lured him to carry the jacket after paying Rs 15000.

The ATC judge, after hearing the case, remanded Bilal, hailing from Bar Qambarkhel area of Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency, into one-week physical custody of police with the directive to conduct his medical examination and also ascertain his age.

Jahangir, who belonged to Momin Town area of Dalazak Road Peshawar, however, has not yet been produced before the court and is in custody of the authorities.