In a joint operation, the anti-terror squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police and West Bengal Police nabbed two members of terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Greater Noida on Tuesday. Their arrest has come just three weeks before the Independence Day celebrations at the historic Red Fort from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation.
According to sources, the two JMB members were planning to carry out a major terror strike in the National Capital Region (NCR). “The two arrested JMB members were identified as Musharraf aka Musa, and Rubel Ahmed, both Bangladeshi nationals”, Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh told reporters in the State capital.
They would be taken by WB police on transit remand for further interrogation, the DGP said. “A team of UP ATS will also interrogate them to extract more information” he said.
“Duo was arrested from Surajpur police station area in Greater Noida on the outskirts of the national Capital and were taken for interrogation by officials of the UP ATS and intelligence department of West Bengal Police”, Gautam Buddha Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Pal Sharma said.
More revelations in this regard can be made only after interrogation, officials said. When asked about more details of the two terrorists, he said both were active members of the JMB.
The intelligence department had received a tip-off that some JMB members were collecting funds in the adjoining areas of the national Capital for their outfit, a source said.
It may be recalled that three Bangladeshi youths, suspected to have links with Islamic extremist group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), were arrested in lucknow in September 2017 year by the ATS.
Mohammad Imran, Rajiuddin and Mohammad Firdaus, who were brothers, were caught while boarding the Howrah-Amritsar Express train, officials said.
During interrogation, they confessed that they were residents of Bangladesh and fake Aadhaar cards were found from their possession. The names of the three came after an ATS team arrested a suspected Bangladeshi terrorist Abdullah, associated with the ABT from Muzaffarnagar.
The ABT, also called Ansar Bangla, was implicated in crimes, including some brutal attacks and murders of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh. Abdullah alias Al Mamun was arrested from Kutesara locality in Charthawal area of Muzaffarnagar district by an ATS team and during his interrogation names of some people came to the fore and probe was done in Deoband madrassas to find his links.
Abdullah resided in Deoband area of Saharanpur since 2011 and had also got his Aadhaar card and passport prepared using a fake identity.
It was found that three persons -- a madrassa teacher and his two brothers -- were missing after which the ATS team swung into action and they were arrested.
ATS officials said Abdullah was associated with the ABT and was involved in preparing fake identity proofs of terrorists, especially for those from Bangladesh, with the help of one Faizan who lived in Deoband (Saharanpur).
Based on this input, Faizan's house was searched in Deoband but he was not found there but jihadi literature in Bangla, literature for preparation of bombs, colour printer and a number of fake IDs were recovered, they said. The ABT is an al-Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, while JMB, founded in 1998 by Shaikh Abdur Rahman, was banned in 2005 for setting off about 500 bombs simultaneously all around Bangladesh.