Kolkata: STF arrests 20-year-old al-Qaida man

KOLKATA: A 20-year-old al-Qaida operative was arrested by the Kolkata Police's Special Task Force (STF) from Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas on Saturday. Moniruddin Khan is the youngest of the seven AQIS (al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent) network operatives arrested by agencies in Bengal in the past several months. All arrested are part of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) - a Bangladeshi terror group - which is a key component of the AQIS network.
"We had begun probing this module from July this year and Moniruddin's arrest is important. He is a member of ABT-AQIS and was providing logistical support to the organisation. He played a prominent role by helping in recruitment of new members across south Bengal, preparing fake Indian ID cards and finding safe shelters for other module members. The accused was produced before the CMM court on Sunday, and he has been remanded in police custody till November 14," said joint CP (STF) Solomon V Nesakumar.
"Earlier this year, we had arrested an ABT member, Hasnat Sheikh (25) - a resident of Sujapur in Malda - and realized that the AQIS was trying to recruit new members. Around the same time, four members of this module were arrested in Bengal. When we questioned them, it became clear that all their modules operating in Bengal, Assam, UP and MP were linked," said an officer.
Bengal agencies then decided to question two of these module members lodged in a Bhopal jail since August. The two were brought to Kolkata for questioning. Of the two, Hamidullah, alias "Raju Gaji" of Bangladesh's Narayanganj, is the key man of the Bengal module," said an investigator, adding, it was through his questioning that they reached Moniruddin.
"Moniruddin was playing several roles all at once. We are questioning him about other module members who had close connections with him," aid a police source.