KARACHI, March 16: The Judicial Magistrate, West, Sadaf Asif, remanded on Saturday seven accused in the children smuggling case in the custody of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police till March 22.

Accused Dennis Charles, Derrick Charles, Joseph Aziz, Shazia, Nasreen, Parveen and Nazeeran were arrested on Friday by police in a bungalow in Block 13-D of Gulshan-i-Iqbal after the recovery of 11 babies, four boys and seven girls, aged between two months to three years.

The accused are alleged to be involved in human smuggling with the connivance of some absconding co-accused, including Concehata, wife of the main accused, Dennis Charles.

Earlier, the accused were produced before the JM by police requesting 14 days’ remand. The investigation officer of the case submitted before the court that the passports of the accused were to be examined. Besides, the remand was required to arrest the absconding accused in the case, police said in their remand request.

After hearing the counsel for the two sides, the magistrate remanded the accused in police custody till March 22.

Concehata, a Maltese national, had been arrested earlier in 1998 on a similar charge, but she slipped away after a local court returned her travel documents and allowed bail to the all the accused. — APP