The West Bengal Police on Saturday achieved a major breakthrough in the Burdwan blast case as it arrested mastermind Sajid, alias Sheikh Rahmatullah, a Bangladeshi national who carried a reward of Rs10 lakh on his head. He is also the chief of the Burdwan module of Bangladesh-based banned terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Sajid is said to be the chief commander of JMB and the mastermind of the outfit’s operations in Burdwan and Murshidabad. His arrest was facilitated by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), sources said. On Friday, the IB had also helped the NIA in arresting the key motivator and trainer of Burdwan module Zia-ul-Haque, who has reportedly confessed that he used to recruit and train jehadis in madrasas “on weekends”. Sajid was arrested by West Bengal Police a couple of days back, official sources said today but refused to immediately divulge the exact location and circumstances leading to his arrest.
Sajid is alleged to have paid Rs8.75 lakh to another absconding accused Kausar, a Bangladeshi national, for purchase of land for constructing a madrasa at Simulia in Burdwan.
The West Bengal Police later handed over the alleged conspirator to NIA for further probe. His interrogation by IB and NIA is expected to give some vital information about the plans of JMB in India as well as in Bangladesh besides the location of nearly 40 Improvised Explosive Devices that were shipped ahead of the October 2 blast. During interrogation he has admitted that he is a resident of Narayangunj district in Bangladesh.
The accused will also be subjected to sustained interrogation to unravel the entire modus operandi, funding channels and established networks of the outfit in West Bengal, Assam and other States besides its linkages with terror group al-Qaeda and banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
NIA Director General Sharad Kumar confirmed his arrest by West Bengal Police to The Pioneer. “Today we arrested Sheikh Rahmatullah. He is a Bangaldeshi. After interrogation, it was revealed that he is Sajid who is involved in the Burdwan blast case and is the chief of Burdwan module,” Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar told reporters in Kolkata.
“Sajid, alias Sheikh Rahmatullah, is a member of Jamat-ul-Mujahadeen Bangladesh and is a member of Majlis-e-Sura which is the central committee of Jamat,” Kumar said.Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) of the Bidhannagar police Kankar Prasad Bouri said Sajid is the mastermind of Burdwan blast case and he had spent a few years in a jail in Bangladesh.
The Detective Department laid a trap with the courier boy who was carrying money for Sajid and the police nabbed him soon after he came to receive the money. The police recovered about Rs 1 lakh from Sajid’s possession. Several fake identity documents, including driving licence, PAN card and voter ID among others, were recovered from him.
The arrest of the 40-year-old mastermind, who stayed near lalgola Madrasa at Mukimnagar in Murshidabad district, is expected to help the NIA and other Central security agencies in gathering crucial leads in nabbing the other absconding terror masterminds.On October 2, the blast in a house at Khagragarh in Burdwan town had occurred in which one Shakil Ahmed died on the spot and another operative Sovan Mandal died in a hospital. Both were suspected to have links with JMB. Another suspect Hasan Saheb was injured in the blast and told the investigators about the module’s networks leading to the arrest of six persons in Assam. The two arrested women, including the wife of one of the deceased suspect, provided inputs on the blast conspiracy.
The arrested accused have identified Sajid and his wife Fatima as ‘lead trainers’ at Simulia Madrasa where gullible Muslim youth, including young girls, were being indoctrinated for jehad and trained in conducting terrorist acts.
The arrest of Sajid comes days after the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval along with IB and NIA chiefs met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and made her understand that the Burdwan blast was a result of larger terror conspiracy and the State administration should render all possible assistance to the Central agencies in the ongoing probe into the incident.
The Intelligence agencies have also been seeking assistance from National Security Intelligence of Bangladesh and India will furnish a report to the Government of that country after all the information related to the outfit’s conspiracy is collated by various agencies probing the conspiracy. The Bangladesh Government has sought a report on the activities of JMB as the outfit planned to attack the Awami league Government there and create an Islamic state in some districts of West Bengal and parts of that country through armed struggle.
PURGING BENGAl OF TERROR FACTORY