Burdwan blast probe: Bank accounts but no Bangla link, a Nano & a new madrasa

Following the minister’s statement to Parliament, Ahamed Hassan Imran, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and editor of the Urdu newspaper Kalaam, whom some reports have accused of being the “link” between Saradha and Bangladesh, said he was happy that the government had cleared his name.

“I am much relieved, and I thank God that Jitendra Singh’s statement has cleared the cloud of terror funding over me. Allegations that I had arranged for Saradha money to be stacked in gunny bags and driven in ambulances to Bangladesh were part of the smear campaign against me,” he told The Indian Express over the phone from Delhi.

According to top sources in Delhi and West Bengal, this is what has so far been revealed in the investigations by the NIA and other agencies:

* On October 2, the day of the blast, Rs 40,000 in cash was recovered from Razia Bibi and Alima Bibi, the wives of Shakeel Ahmed (who was killed in the explosion) and Abdul Hakim, who escaped with injuries, respectively. The recovery suggested a fairly smooth flow of liquid cash to the characters involved in Khagragarh, investigators say.

* The key men at the Simulia madrasa, the alleged training ground for women jihadis, Yousuf Sheikh and Borhan Sheikh, invested Rs 8.75 lakh in a 20-cottah plot about half a km away in Mangalklote, where a new madrasa was being built. They also bought a used Nano car.

* Yousuf spent all his time at the Simulia madrasa, and had no known sources of regular income. Borhan had a small carpentry unit at Mangalkote market. The madrasa did not accept rations or donations.

* Razia and Alima have said “5-6 human couriers” brought money from Bangladesh, and took consignments of explosives from the Burdwan gang.

* Kauser, who lived in a rented house close to where the blast happened was allegedly the key conduit who saw to it that the explosives reached their destinations and bombmakers Shakeel, Hakim, Razia and Alima got paid for them. Kauser is believed to have fled soon after the blast, and is absconding. A couple of small arms and over 30 rounds of ammunition have been seized.

* ED and NIA officials have traced bank accounts of the accused, but found no suspicious transactions, and none with a Bangladesh link.

The ED hopes to interrogate the accused after NIA submits the first chargesheet.