The hyderabad police, who are investigating Mohammed Abdul Majed, 40, the eldest brother of Mohammed Abdul Shahed, alias Bilal, 26, the key terror accused in the May 18 and August 25 bomb blasts cases, have officially placed him under arrest on charges of waging war against the country.

The police have also arrested Mohammed Shakeel, a long time friend of Bilal who was earlier linked to the October 12, 2005 blast at a police task force office in Hyderabad, in which one policeman was killed.

Majed, who according to his family was taken away immediately after the August 25 serial blasts that killed 43 people, was produced in court on Friday and remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. Majed first came under the police scanner following the October 12, 2005 blast at the police task force office. Bilal’s youngest brother Zahed, who was arrested for the blast, revealed during interrogation that Bilal used Majed as a conduit for funds sent to Hyderabad.

The 2005 police investigation records also described Majed as an unemployed resident of the Moosarambagh area in Hyderabad where the family lives. He subsequently went on to start an Internet cafe in his locality and has been in touch with Bilal, police said.

Majed and Shakeel are among the 15 people named on charges of waging war against the country in an FIR lodged on September 1. Both have not been directly linked to the May 18 or August 25 blasts as yet.

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