Indian JMB operative held in Bengal after arrest of Bangladeshis in MP

KOLKATA: An Indian national and suspected member of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was arrested from Bankra in Bengal’s Howrah district on Wednesday by the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police in connection with the recent arrest of several Bangladeshi JMB operatives in Madhya Pradesh, officials aware of the development said.

The JMB operative, Ansari, who was nabbed from his apartment on the second floor of a building, was working as a teacher at a local Madrasah in Bankra for six years, an STF officer said on condition of anonymity.

“Ansari’s identity was revealed by the JMB operatives nabbed by the Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday. He was a facilitator and had links with the banned Ansarul Islam of Bangladesh. Ansari’s main job was to provide shelter to people who travelled from one city to another,” the officer added.

HT earlier reported that four suspected JMB members were arrested from two locations in Bhopal on Sunday.

“The accused, Fazhar Ali, 32, Mohammad Aqueel, 24, Zaduruddin Pathan, 24, and Fazhar Zainul Abdeen, 32, all are residents of Bangladesh. [They] were involved in jihadi activities for which they were preparing a remote-base (sleeper cell) through which they wanted to do serious anti-national incidents in the future,” said a statement issued by the Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS).

“A large quantity of jihadi literature, electronic equipment and incriminating documents have been found from the above accused, due to which, it has been known that the accused are active members of JMB at the initial stage,” the statement added.

Two more persons were held in connection with the arrest of these four men, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday, according to news agency PTI.

PTI reported that while speaking to reporters in the Vidhan Sabha premises, Mishra said, “The issue is very serious and a special investigation team has been constituted.”

Several JMB members have been nabbed in Bengal in recent years.

The last arrest was made in November 2021 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from South 24 Parganas district’s Subhasgram, a village located around 28 kilometre to the south of Kolkata.

Three JMB sleeper cell members were nabbed in July last year from Haridevpur in the southern outskirts of Kolkata by the STF of the Kolkata Police.

The JMB was banned in India in 2019 after its involvement was found in the Bodh Gaya bomb blast in Bihar.

“After the ban, efforts are being made by the members of JMB to set up sleeper cells in different areas of India… The above JMB module is part of one such sleeper cell,” said the statement by the Madhya Pradesh ATS.