Kolkata Police said today they have arrested two Jamatul Mujahiddin Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists involved in a low-intensity blast in the Buddhist pilgrim town Bodh Gaya in Bihar during the Dalai Lama's visit in January. Paigamber Sheikh, 24, and Jamirul Sheikh, 31, were arrested by a special task force of the police on Wednesday, an STF official said. Sheikh was arrested from his home in Kankuria village in Murshidabad district, while Jamirul, who hails from Ratanpur in the same district, was nabbed from Darjeeling, the official said. Nearly 50 kg ammonium nitrate, materials used to make explosives and a laptop computer were seized from them, he said. A low-intensity blast was reported at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan Ground in the temple town on January 19, causing panic among devotees gathered to hear the Dalai Lama's discourse. The STF official said the two men admitted to their links with the JMB. "They also admitted to manufacturing three IEDs, which were planted by their accomplices at Bodh Gaya during the Dalai Lama's visit." A search is on for their accomplices, he said. The STF has informed the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which is probing the blast, about the arrests. After the low-intensity blast in Bodh Gaya, two live bombs were detected near the Kaalchintan Ground.
The Dalai Lama was holding a discourse there and a host of Buddhist pilgrims from around the world had gathered there for it. In September 2016, six JMB members, including four wanted in connection with the 2014 Khagragarh blast in Burdwan, were arrested from West Bengal and Assam. Those arrested included Anwar Hussain Farooq, head of the outfit's West Bengal unit, and Yusuf Sheikh, second in command in the state and its chief motivator who carried an award of Rs 10 lakh on his head announced by the NIA. Three of the arrested were Bangladeshi nationals.
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