The Rautahat District Court has remanded Nepali Congress lawmaker Mohammad Aftab Alam in custody for seven days.

Alam, who was detained on Sunday for his alleged involvement in 2008 bombing and the subsequent murder of at least 23 people in the district, was presented at the court amid tight security on Tuesday. A single bench of Judge Chitra Bahadur Gurung ordered the police to keep the accused federal parliament member in custody for seven days and investigate the case.

Talking briefly to reporters while he was being returned to the District Police Officer from the court, Alam said that everything would be clear within a few days. “Have patience. Fair justice will be delivered in a few days,” he said.

Alam had told the court that he was surprised when police arrested him without any evidence in connection to the incident that occurred 12 years ago.

At least two people had died and two dozen others were injured in an explosion in Fardahawa, Rautahat, on the eve of the first Constituent Assembly elections on April 9, 2008.

Police have linked Alam with the explosion and the deaths, as well as accused him of murdering the injured survivors by burning them alive in a brick kiln to get rid of witnesses and “destroy the evidence”.