NIA Nabs Bangladeshi terrorist Mohammad Jahidul Islam,a Kingpin of Bodhgaya blast from Bengaluru :
“Top militant of Bangladesh-based outfit finally nabbed by NIA”.
A top India operative of Jamaat-ul-Mujhahiddin Bangladesh (JMB) has been arrested near Bengaluru by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with recovery of two bombs in Bodh Gaya in Bihar in January last, the NIA said on Tuesday.
Mohammed Jahidul Islam alias Kausar of was picked up from his rented house near Ramanagara area on Monday, by an NIA team.
This comes days after NIA arrested Abdul Karim alias Chhota and Mustafizur Rehman alias Shaheen alias Tuhin on August 3.They were arrested from the labour camp of Bengali speaking persons in Mallapuram in Kerala.During the preliminary interrogation, the two arrested by NIA revealed the location of Mohammad Jahidul Islam who was involved in Bodhgaya blast and Burdwan blast.
The arrested is said to be the deputy chief of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),Mohammed Jahidul Islam alias Boma Miyan for allegedly carrying out the blasts in Bodh Gaya in January this year ahead of a visit by the Dalai Lama.
Bangladeshi National Mohammed Jahidul Islam,who also goes by names like Kausar, Munna,Mizan and Boma Miyan, is considered to be the mastermind behind the bomb blast at Bodh Gaya.Reportedly, Kausar is also alleged to be responsible for Burdwan blasts.
NIA officials have also arrested another accused Adil alias Assadullah, a resident of village Elsiabad in district Murshidabad of West Bengal in Bangalore on Tuesday.The police have recovered mobile handsets, bank slips, handwritten notes in Bangla language and a note containing chemical formulas for preparation of IEDs.He is considered to be the right-hand man of Jahidul Hasan,the deputy chief of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Jahidul Hasan is also wanted in various terror cases in Bangladesh.He was sentenced to 95 years of imprisonment by the Bangladeshi courts.It is reported that he escaped from custody in Bangladesh and illegally entered India.
According to a release from the NIA, 38-year old Islam was the mastermind in the Bodh Gaya blasts case,and on his directions,his close associate,Mustafizur Rehman alias Shahin,arranged and assembled the bombs,which were found on January 20 when the Dalai Lama was on a visit to the pilgrimage town.The bombs were later deactivated.He is the top leader of JMB in India and is wanted in the Burdwan blast case and in many other cases in Bangladesh also,Islam was produced before the Special Court for NIA cases in Bengaluru,which granted five days of transit remand of him.He would now be produced before the Special NIA Court in Patna, the release said.
The NIA registered a case under IPC Sections 120, 121-A, 122, 123 & 153(A); Sec 16, 18 and 20 of UA (P) Act, 1967; Sec 14, 17 and 19 of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Delivery System, UA (P)Act, 2005;and Section 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act to investigate the recovery and explosion of IEDs near Kalchakra Maidan,Bodh Gaya,in Bihar.
In another severe crackdown, the NIA has also arrested two other Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists in Kerala:
In relation to Bodh Gaya blasts.The alleged terrorists Abdul Karim and Mustafizur Rehman are arrested for planting three IEDs at Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya in January.The NIA is suspecting the role of few other Bangladeshi nationals in terror cases. The alleged terrorists belong to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a terrorist outfit active in the border areas of India and Bangladesh.
The two people arrested were part of the group of around half-a-dozen JMB men who planted the IEDs.Their associates were involved in the Burdwan incident of 2014 when an accidental blast revealed the presence of a huge JMB network in the border region of Bengal.We have reason to believe that a wanted accused in the Burdwan case is the mastermind of the January Bodh Gaya incident, who added that NIA had earlier arrested three other people in the case a NIA official told reporters.
The intelligence agencies have warned the state governments that the JMB terrorists based in Bangladesh may enter states of West Bengal and Assam to increase its presence in the country by recruiting Indian Muslims into their organisation to inflict terror in the country.
The Mahabodhi temple,being one of the heritage places in the country is also a UNESCO world heritage site.The historic site has been under the target of Islamic terrorists for a very long time. The January incident was not the first time that terrorist targeted the temple.Earlier, In July 2013, more than a dozen IEDs were planted in and around the Mahabodhi temple,causing injuries to five people.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police had also arrested many JMB activists.NIA had taken most of them in their custody for interrogation.
