Burdwan blast- Probe team from Bangladesh meets NIA officials for information

A seven-member team of Bangladesh, which arrived in Kolkata to probe the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) link into October 2 blast in West Bengal's Burdwan district, on Friday interacted with NIA officials here.

The discussion was held for exchange of information with the NIA on the Burdwan blast in which Bangladeshi jihadi elements were allegedly involved. Bangladesh team was also likely to question some of those already arrested here including the prime suspect S K Rehmatullah alias Sajid at NIA's camp office at Salt Lake. However, outcome of the meeting was not available either from the visiting team or the NIA.

The high-level team, led by Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal, additional director-general and Abul Kalam Azad, director, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) told newspersons on their arrival here yesterday that it would discuss the Burdwan blast case with NIA officials here. A large number of IEDs were recovered from a house in Burdwan's Khagragarh where an accidental blast took place killing two persons.

An international terror network having interests in Bangladesh is suspected to have a hand in the blast. Of the eight persons arrested so far in connection with the blast, most are Bangladeshi nationals. The Bangladesh team had already interacted with the four NIA officials, who visited Dhaka recently and handed over valuable documents to them regarding presence of JMB in several districts of West Bengal. NIA's information had helped the Dhaka sleuths to nab four JMB suspects, including JMB women wing chief Fatema Begum, also the wife of Burdwan blast prime accused Sajid.