Intelligence radar at work to track Bangla terror network

RANCHI: The arrest of a top terrorist in connection with the Burdwan blast case has prompted the state intelligence department to begin investigation into the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) network in Jharkhand.
Ibrahim Sheikh alias Lal Mohammad, was arrested from outside a railway station in Pakur on Saturday night and was the second big catch, after JMB's Rejaul Karim, in the blast case since January."The arrest of Ibrahim Sheikh in Pakur has further corroborated reports that JMB is trying to expand its network in the state. In January, a JMB terrorist was arrested from Sahebganj," Jharkhand police spokesperson S N Pradhan said on Monday.
Both Pakur and Sahebganj are Muslim-dominated districts in the northeastern part of Jharkhand where West Bengal's chicken neck separates them from Bangladesh. "The demography and geography work to their (the terrorist's) advantage. The culture is almost the same and they manage to brainwash the youth," a police officer said.
The district police on Monday took Ibrahim Sheikh on three-day remand. A special team of Pakur police, including the state intelligence sleuths, will interrogate Ibrahim.
"Ibrahim was wanted in the Burdwan blast case and NIA (National Investigation Agency) had an arrest warrant against him. We want to interrogate him to know how deep JMB has managed to penetrate into Jharkhand," Pakur SP Anoop Birthary said.
A source said Ibrahim would be taken to places in Pakur and Sahebganj where he stayed or visited to meet his friends to verify his statements. NIA and the intelligence wing of the Bengal Police have arrived in Pakur district to interrogate Ibrahim, who is believed to be a close aide of Sajid Sheikh, the chief of JMB operations in India. Sajid was arrested in November last.
"Ibrahim is an important catch for the agencies probing the Burdwan blast case as well as for us. We want to destroy the terrorist network that JMB has managed to establish in Jharkhand," Pradhan said.