New Delhi: A Delhi court has sent the nine suspected al-Qaeda terrorists, arrested from Kerala and West Bengal recently, to the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The three arrested from Ernakulam in Kerala were sent to five-day custody, while the others nabbed from Murshidabad in Bengal were sent to four-day custody.

The suspected terrorists were presented at the Patiala House court via video-conferencing on Tuesday.

As gang leader Murshid Hasan was among those arrested from Ernakulam, the NIA sought more time to question these three suspects. The NIA contended that the accused had planned to carry out attacks on vital installations in the country and they had to be taken into custody to get more information.

The probe team also presented evidence of the accused having contacted the al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan and Bangladesh online.

Two more suspects are to be arrested from Bengal. They managed to give the officers a slip right before the arrest.