Bengal areas under intelligence surveillance after three JMB activists arrested
Kolkata: After the arrest of three Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activists in West Bengal in the last two days, the intelligence agencies, both central and state, have increased surveillance in pockets that have records of the presence of sleeper cells of various fundamentalist and terrorist groups.
Sources aware of the development said that these pockets have been kept under special surveillance, including those districts that share International Borders with Bangladesh, with additional focus on the two minority-dominated Murshidabad and Malda.
The sources added that apart from that, certain other minority-dominated pockets in districts like Birbhum, East Burdwan, and Hooghly districts have also been brought under this special surveillance.
Of the three JMB associates who were arrested by the sleuths of the special task force (STF) of West Bengal, two, namely Aazmal Hossain and Saheb Ali Khan, were arrested on Friday from Nalhati in Birbhum district, and both were residents of the same district. On interrogating them, the investigating officials came to know of their associate, Abasuddin Molla, who was arrested on Saturday from his residence at Patra village under Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Similarly, some pockets in East Burdwan district, especially the minority-dominated ones, have been kept under surveillance following a blast at Khagragarh in the same district in October 2014. The police seized 55 improvised explosive devices, RDX, wrist watch dials, and SIM cards from that house. Investigation revealed that JMB was the mastermind behind assembling huge explosives at that house.
Investigation further revealed the presence of JMB sleeper cells at Khagragarh and its adjacent pockets. Of the 19 people convicted in the case, four were Bangladeshi residents and hardcore activists.
Similarly, during the last few years, there have been several instances of arrests of several sleeper cell members of different fundamentalist and terrorist groups in minority-dominated pockets in the Hooghly district, following which these pockets have also been brought under special surveillance.
Recently, after the Union Home Ministry received information from intelligence agencies about the alleged role of illegal Bangladeshi intruders behind the violence and vandalism in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
The names of three Bangladesh-based fundamentalist groups, namely JMB, Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HUT), and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), surfaced then.