The custody of the accused was given to Mumbai police inspector S P Pereira after special judge in Delhi Naipal Singh granted transit remand of the duo with the direction to produce them before the concerned court by August 23.

The court directed Pereira to immediately get the accused medically examined and also ensure their safety during their journey to Mumbai by train.

Pereira was asked by the court to send the accused back to Delhi as they were required to be produced before it on September 1.

Earlier, the court turned down the defence plea to take the accused as well as the police officials to Mumbai by plane at their expense, saying it involved the question of integrity of police officials and they cannot accept any favour from the accused in any mannerwhatsoever.

Ashwin Naik and his associates Amit Mukherjee and Rajput were arrested at the Indo-Bangladesh border by local police at the instance of Delhi police on August 1 while trying to cross over to Bangladesh. They were brought to Delhi on August 8 on transit remand and were remanded to 10-day police custody by the court.

Following their arrest, police had claimed to have unearthed an international drug trafficking ring having links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).