West Bengal: ‘JMB men planned crime for funds’

KOLKATA: Investigators, who had questioned Lalu Sen, the linkman for the JMB members arrested on Thursday, claimed the accused were desperate to “collect funds” and could have been plotting a crime.
Sen’s interrogation and the contents of his seized laptop indicated he, along with the three arrested accused, Naziur Rahaman Pavel (22), Mikail Khan (30) Rabiul Islam (22), had taken orders from top JMB leader Anwar Ali alias Ansar Ali Hridoy, suspected to be involved in a string of robberies in Bangladesh. Investigators suspect Hridoy, who was jailed in Bangladesh two years ago, siphoned off a part of the money to India for his business and to run a cross-border human trafficking gang.
“Hridoy and Hafizul Sheikh Sakal were JMB’s fund-raisers and their involvement indicated they had some plans to raise funds in Bengal by committing crimes. Sen happened to be Hridoy’s trusted aide. We have found several documents in the seized laptop that indicated his link with Hridoy,” said a STF source.
Sen was married to a local woman in Bangladesh. “He failed Class-IX, after which he left studies. He had an import and export business and visited Bangladesh many times,” said an officer.
“Lalu visited Hridoy in jail. In Dhaka, Lalu got involved in the trafficking racket. He had an affair with a Bangladeshi national’s wife, whom he later married. Some say she is a lawyer but it’s not confirmed,” an STF officer said.