Ten days ago, the STF had nabbed another suspected JMB member — Ariful Islam alias Arif alias Ataur (22), a permanent resident of Panpara village. (File)A Special Task Force of Kolkata Police arrested two more suspected members of banned terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and seized 50 kg of bomb-making material from them, in Murshidabad on Tuesday.
The arrested men — Moshibur Rahman (35) alias Farooque and Ruhul Amin alias Saifullah (26) — are from Raghunathgunj in Murshidabad. “Kolkata STF team with the help of Murshidabad police arrested the two. They are associates of (suspected JMB members) Kauser and Sajjad,” said Murlidhar Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (STF). Sources revealed their name cropped up during the investigation of a case that was filed on February 16.
Police said the two were allegedly planning to make acid bombs and use them to free Kauser, who is currently in STF custody, while he was being taken to court from jail. Kausar, who was sentenced to death in Bangladesh in three separate cases, was one of the key accused in the serial blasts in 63 Bangladesh districts in 2005. He escaped from a prison van during a staged ambush on the India-Bangladesh border and crossed over to West Bengal in 2016, said police.
“As per Sajjad, using these bombs, they would have attacked police and free Kauser from custody,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity. The accused have been arrested under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 130 (aiding escape of, rescuing or harbouring such prisoner).
Ten days ago, the STF had nabbed another suspected JMB member — Ariful Islam alias Arif alias Ataur (22), a permanent resident of Panpara village, Barpeta in Assam — from Babughat.
All the suspected JMB members arrested so far were to be involved directly or indirectly in planting IEDs at Bodh Gaya when the Dalai Lama was visiting in January 2018.
In an earlier incident, on July 7, 2013, the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya was rocked by a series of bomb blasts soon after the morning prayers. A total of 13 bombs were planted, of which 10 exploded. Three bombs were seized and defused. Five people were injured, including two Buddhist monks.
