Convicted criminal Arfan Bhatti (34) was at 00.30 on Monday night, arrested by police in East Aker vei in Oslo, after he exercised violence against a woman in the family.

The 34-year-old is now charged with bodily harm and is in remand in custody, confirms Bhatti's lawyer, John Christian Elden.

He is accused of beating an adult family member with a strike hard enough that it required stitching. He has been questioned and denied the accusation, said Elden to Dagbladet.

The police will not go into the circumstances surrounding the arrest.

We can confirm that he is charged with assault. This is not related to cases he had previously been known for in the media, said prosecutor Henning Holtås at Stovner police department to Dagbladet.

The attorney, Elden, emphasizes that the case is far less severe than ones his client has been accused of in other contexts.

"This is about a single case of violation of Penal Code § 229, first paragraph" says the attorney.

Bhatti is this afternoon, in police custody at the station in Grønland.

"As far as I understand, the police are considering releasing him on remand tomorrow" says Elden.

History of Arfan Bhatti:

• Irfan Qadeer Bhatti was born and raised in Norway with parents from Pakistan. Has been convicted several times for criminal offences.

• In 1998, he was sentenced after being accused of shooting a person during a torpedo exercise.

• In July 2006, a synagogue was targeted in Oslo. Bhatti was arrested and prosecuted.

• In 2008, Bhatti was found guilty of having contributed to the fire at the synagogue, but was acquitted of terror accusations linked to the U.S. Embassy. Bhatti was also found guilty including complicity in attempted murder after shooting at a house in 2006.

• In his appeal in the Court of Appeal in 2009, he was acquitted of the murder attempt.

• In advance of President Barack Obama's visit to Norway in 2009, he was arrested after the Norwegian Intelligence Services intercepted phone calls about a weapons order. Bhatti was released after Obama had left the country.

• Bhatti has in the last two to three years emerged as a very vocal radicalized Muslim.


http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/04/03/nyheter/bhatti/kriminalitet/20964610/