Friday 26 / April / 2024
Kolkata: The special task force of Kolkata Police has arrested six top Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants, including four wanted in the 2014 Khagragarh blast case, from the east Indian states of West Bengal and Assam.
Of the six, three are Bangladeshi nationals while the other three Indians, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Kolkata Police, Vishal Garg told reporters on Monday.
"These people were not in West Bengal after Khagragarh blast. They had left the state and moved to South India and North Eastern states. They were planning subversive activities in some South Indian states. We are trying to find out the details," Garg said.
The arrested JMB activists include head of the outfit's West Bengal unit Anwar Hussain Farooq alias Inam, second-in- command in the state Yusuf Sheikh alias Maulana Shiekh.
The six have been charged under IPC Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging of war against India government), 121(A) (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121), 122 (collecting arms), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war), 124(A) (sedition), he said.
They were remanded to police custody till October 6 by a city court.
"They were using one web-based networking system to communicate with each other and never used the mobile phones to interact, not even the Facebook or its messenger. We have broken the encrypted messages exchanged between themselves," Garg said.
The four who were wanted in connection with Khagragarh blast of October 2, 2014, were Shahidul Islam alias Surya, Mohammad Rubel, Abul Kalam and Jahidul Islam.
Anwar Hussain Farooq, Mohammed Rubel and Jahidul hail from Jamalpur of Bangladesh, while the other three are - Yusuf from Burdwan district's Mangalkot, Sahidul Islam and Abul Kalam from Assam's Barpeta district, Garg said.
The NIA had named Sheikh, also the JMB chief motivator in the state, Shahidul Islam and Abul Kalam in its chargesheet for the Khagragarh blast.
NIA had also announced cash rewards of INR 10 lakh on Shiekh's head. Kalam and Rubel were carrying rewards of INR 3 lakh and INR 1 lakh respectively on their heads.
Garg said Yusuf and Shahidul were arrested from Natun Bazar under Basirhat area of North 24 Parganas district while Farooq and Rubel were picked up from Bagda Road in Bangao in the same district on Sunday, Garg said.
Kalam was held from Cooch Behar station in north Bengal on Sunday while Jahidul was arrested from Cachhar district of Assam on Saturday.
He said, "Farooq was on the wanted list of Bangladesh Police and was looking after the financial aspect of the JMB's West Bengal unit. Yusuf was supervising the training programmes carried out at different Madrasas in the state and the NIA was looking for him in connection with the Khagragarh blast."
Surya, also the JMB chief for the N-E India, was entrusted to build up movements in the International border areas of Assam while Rubel was in-charge of inducting leaders from Bangladesh into the JMB's Bengal unit, he said.
Jahidul and Kalam's specific roles were yet to be ascertained though primary questioning revealed that the latter was assisting Surya in his job, Garg said.
Forged identity documents, white powdery substance weighing around two kilogrammes, one laptop, mobile phones, detonator, wire-cutters, batteries, Bangladeshi and Indian currencies, letters written in Bengali, travel guide, books on chemicals and memory cards for camera were seized from them, he said.
Asked whether they were planning to conduct any subversive activity, another STF official said, "Going by their activities, it seems that that was their agenda subsequently. They were intending to assemble at an unknown place to chalk out the blueprint of the possible attack. We are talking to them and trying to get the details of that."
