JMB faction head may be Burdwan blast planner: NIA

KOLKATA: NIA sources said they have evidence that shows that the arrested Abu Talha Mohammad Fahim alias Pakhi, chief of a JMB faction in Bangladesh, is the same Talha Sheikh accused of masterminding the Khargagarh blast last October. NIA had earlier declared a Rs 10lakh reward on him.
"We are contacting Dhaka Metropolitan Police and we might even request for his extradition if possible," said an NIA officer in Delhi.
Pakhi was arrested by Dhaka Metropolitan Police from near the Bangladesh capital on July 27 along with seven others when they were trying to contact ISIS operatives. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) sources in Bangladesh had earlier said they might either come to Kolkata or ask for the extradition of a few of those arrested so they can be tried for the crimes they committed in Bangladesh. Pakhi is the younger son of JMB's founder Maulana Saidur Rehman.
Pakhi, Bangladeshi sources claim, is from Birbhum's Bolpur while Indian authorities say he is from Rajshahi in Bangladesh. He was one of the main organizers who taught at the JMB-run Madrassas in West Bengal. If Pakhi does turn out to be the blast mastermind, it will be established that the JMB top guns — after Boma Mizan and Saidullah — might have come to Bengal along with Bangla Bhai as early as 2005 to escape raids by the Bangladeshi security establishment.
Sources said terror operators like Pakhi keep sleeper cells running by providing everything from shelter to SIM cards for leaders and new recruits, who are either not acquainted with the place or have to remain underground.
India has also sought details from Bangladesh about the interrogation report of two Jamaat militants Asif Adnan (26) and Fazle Elahi Tanjil (24) who were arrested from Segunbagicha area of Dhaka city recently.
NIA sleuths believe both men can share important details on the terror networks active in Bangladesh and their links in India.
NIA and Bangladesh's elite anti-crime RAB had exchanged lists of JMB operatives and Islamist militants believed to be hiding in the two countries about five months ago. NIA had handed over a list of 11 suspects of the Burdwan blast. RAB, on the other hand, gave a list of 51 fugitive Bangladeshis, 10 of them said to be JMB activists and several members of Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), along with some gangsters.
Bangladesh recently constituted a six-member team to work on militancy and extend its support to NIA in its investigations.
Pakhi, Bangladeshi sources claim, is from Birbhum's Bolpur while Indian authorities say he is from Rajshahi in Bangladesh.