Six JMB Terrorists Accused In The Burdwan Blasts Arrested By Police Just Days Before Durga Puja

Just 10 days before Durga Puja, Kolkata Police's special task force (STF) arrested six operatives of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), including the second-in-command of the outfit's India unit and the chiefs for Bengal and north-east, on Monday.

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Five of the arrested were involved in the Burdwan blasts that came in the middle of Durga Puja, on October 2, two years ago. The STF claimed the arrests in Bengal and Assam came in the nick of time as the module was planning major strikes in both these states and south India. National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers have already reached the Kolkata Police headquarters to question the six men.

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The prize catch includes JMB's Bengal unit chief Anwar Hussain Farukh alias Inam, north-east unit head Sahidul Islam alias Surya, chief motivator and number two of JMB's India unit Maulana Yusuf alias Abu Bakkar, IED experts Md Rubel alias Rafiq and Abul Kalam and Zahidul Islam alias Jabirul Islam who acted as the key linkman between JMB and northeastern terror groups and ran a fake currency racket. Zahidul is also suspected to have links with the Islamic State group. IS operative Md Musa, who was arrested by the CID this July, had the same handler as Zahidul - Md Suleiman, a key JMB and IS operative in Bangladesh.

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Police in Bangladesh have also registered cases against Inam and Yousuf and their role in the terror strike at Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka is being investigated. Bangladesh authorities had earlier conveyed their suspicion that both money and arms for the July 22 attack were routed through India.

BCCL

Large quantities of bomb-making material and explosives were seized from the JMB men. Besides, forged documents ranging from passports to PAN cards, bomb-making literature, JMB letters in Bengali, a list of the outfit's hierarchy, mobile phones, laptops and SD cards were found on them. The STF had been monitoring the movements of some JMB operatives for several months, though their exact names could not be ascertained as they were using aliases.

BCCL

It was the arrest of fake-currency operative Zahidul from Assam's Cachar district four days ago that led to the arrests of Inam and Rubel from the Bangaon-Bagda Road near the Bangaon border. Yusuf and Sahidul were nabbed in simultaneous raids at Nutanbazar in Basirhat. The sixth person - Kalam - whom sleuths have been trailing from Cachar, was arrested in New Cooch Behar while on way to Kolkata. Six separate STF teams carried out the arrests.

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According to investigators, the operatives had fled to Bangladesh after NIA, CID and police turned on the heat following the Khagragarh blast in 2014 in which two suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists were killed and a third injured. A huge cache of explosives and various devices required to make bombs were recovered from the site in Burdwan district. With the lapse of two years, the operatives were again trying to regroup.

BCCL

While the arrests have neutralised JMB's modules in Bengal and Assam, its south Indian module is still active, officials said. Joint CP (STF) Vishal Garg said two separate teams are camping in two separate places in search of these groups. NIA had missed one Maulana Yusuf by a whisker while he was camping in south India not too long ago. "We are looking at some big names of JMB who are on the run," said Garg. Sources insisted JMB India head Kausar and Hathkata Nasirullah could be holed up in India.