Lucknow, Dec 12 (IANS) The Mumbai police Friday got custody of suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba activist Fahim Ansari, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police for an attack on a paramilitary camp in Rampur town. He is to be taken to Mumbai for questioning about the Mumbai terror attacks, an official said. Ansari was remanded to the custody of the Mumbai police by Rampur Additional Sessions Judge Jai Sheel Pathak.

Fahim is already charged with orchestrating a terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Rampur with grenades and other weapons in the early hours of Jan 1, 2008. Seven paramilitary troopers and one civilian were killed in the attack.

Fahim was still being kept in the district jail as the two-member Mumbai police team was ill-equipped to keep the terrorist under their custody. Rampur is about 300 km from here.

“The two-member team comprising an inspector and a constable were also detailed to seek remand of Ansari’s accomplice Sabauddin, who was lodged in the Lucknow district jail. But it was practically not feasible for them to take the risk of either carting Ansari to Lucknow or escorting Sabauddin to Bareilly,” Brij Lal, Uttar Pradesh additional director general of police, told IANS.

On whether the Uttar Pradesh police were required to provide them armed escort, Brij Lal said: “Sure enough we will extend whatever assistance they want. All that we can do is to escort them up to the embarkation airport, but it would certainly not be a wise proposition to allow their movement between Lucknow and Bareilly.”

Lal said: “The Mumbai police must send two larger teams so that one could carry Ansari from Rampur to Delhi from where they could fly off to Mumbai, while the other could escort Sabauddin from Lucknow.”

He said: “The Mumbai team has conveyed these details to its bosses whose response is awaited.”

The police suspect Fahim’s involvement in the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attack in which at least 164 people were killed.

Earlier, the Mumbai metropolitan magistrate had ordered the Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad to bring Fahim Ansari to Mumbai.

Road maps of Mumbai, with important buildings marked, were seized from Ansari, when he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police earlier this year.

The hand-drawn rough maps were part of the documents in Fahim Ansari’s case file in the Rampur court.