MULTAN, Oct 21: The alleged mastermind behind the Multan car bomb blast was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days on Thursday by the Anti-Terrorism Court.

The ATC judge, Zahoorul Haq Rana, directed the police to produce accused Syed Irfan Ali Trimzi before the court again on Nov 4.

Surprisingly, the police did not seek physical remand of the accused for further interrogation despite the fact that he was arrested, according to the official claim, only a day before he was produced in court.

When contacted, Multan DPO Sikander Hayat said the police did not ask for the physical remand because an identification parade of the accused would be carried out first before he was quizzed.

It is ironical that Multan Range DIG police Talat Mahmood Tariq declared Irfan Trimzi the mastermind behind the blast while talking to a select gathering of newsmen belonging to the electronic media on Wednesday last only few hours after his arrest.

Observers said the manner in which the DIG had announced the 'landmark' achievement by calling TV reporters one by one at his office had raised eyebrows of many. Furthermore, they said, the accused was declared mastermind even before his identification parade and only after an interrogation of few hours.

The conduct of the alleged mastermind, they said, was also questionable as after the successful execution of the plan he returned few days after the carnage only to get back the fake Nadra card he had submitted to a property dealer in the New Multan area to rent a house.

This act became more doubtful when the police admitted that Irfan had not been on the list of either wanted or suspected sectarian extremists in the country.

The police had further admitted that the particulars given on the fake Nadra card were found completely misleading when they were verified from Bhakkar district. It may be added here that the card submitted to the property dealer carried the name of Ghulam Raza, a resident of Bhakkar city.

Meanwhile, some of the police officials engaged in the ongoing interrogation told this correspondent that the initial findings revealed the role of Irfan Trimzi as of a facilitator rather than a mastermind. They said Amjad Abbas of Bhakkar had emerged as the central character behind the incident that left 41 people dead.

It is learnt that the Multan police conducted a futile raid on the suspected hideout of Amjad Abbas in Bhakkar on Wednesday, but on its way back the raiding team took his father Ghulam Abbas, father-in-law Syed Hasnain Shah and three brothers-in-law into custody.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the police had also taken into custody three persons from Mianwali in connection with the Multan carnage. Sources said the arrested people belonged to a faction of the Pasban-i-Islam organization of Shia extremists.

Observers further said the desperate raids of the Multan police in the length and breadth of the province also spoke volumes for the veracity of the DIG's claim that his men had nabbed the mastermind.

Playing safe, Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao had refrained in his televised interviews from labelling Irfan as the mastermind. He just termed it an important lead in the course of investigation into the carnage.

The carnage took place on Oct 7 last when about 2,000 people were dispersing after commemorating the first death anniversary of Maulana Azam Tariq at Rasheedabad colony.

Azam Tariq was ambushed and killed last year when he was on way to attend the National Assembly session in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, the police also obtained Irfan Trimzi's 14-day judicial remand in the car-snatching case from the court of magistrate Tahir Aslam.

The car used in the bomb blast was reportedly taken away by two dacoits from Zeeshan two days before the carnage.