The local metropolitan magistrate's court today remanded the alleged smuggler Mohammed Ali in a police custody till December 16 in the case related to seizure of red sanders worth Rs 9 crore off Mumbai coast last week.
The prosecution told the court that the crime branch of Mumbai police wanted to interrogate Ali to get more details about his smuggling racket.
Yesterday, the crime branch had moved the magistrate's court seeking his custody after the sessions court cancelled his interim protection from arrest.
In a joint operation of the Coast Guard and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, 23 tonnes of red sander wood worth Rs 9 crore was seized on Friday off Mumbai coast while it was being smuggled to Dubai by a dhow. The agencies handed over 20 persons, arrested on the sea, to the crime branch.
Ali had earlier been arrested in a case related to murder of a rival oil mafia. He is also suspected to have links with the underworld gangs.
