Bangladesh intelligence team to go India

A delegation of Bangladesh intelligence officials is set to go to New Delhi as a follow-up to the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) team's visit to Dhaka.

Kamal Hossain Talukderbdnews24.com
Published : 27 Nov 2014, 05:11 AM
Updated : 27 Nov 2014, 10:02 AM

The two countries agreed to share intelligence after the involvement of Bangladeshi militants came to light in the Oct 2 blast in West Bengal.

The NIA has been investigating Jihadi networks after the explosion in a house in Burdwan town.

The house, Indian investigators said, had been turned into a factory for making Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) by members of the banned militant outfit, Jam'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Two suspected militants died in the explosion and their wives, believed also to have been trained by the JMB, were arrested.

The incident led to the unravelling of a wide terror network, the NIA investigators said, claiming that the militants were out to eliminate two top Bangladesh politicians – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The NIA felt the need to investigate in Bangladesh and a four-member team came to in Dhaka on Nov 17.

A seven-member Bangladesh intelligence delegation might leave for New Delhi on Thursday, state minister for home affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told bdnews24.com

He, however, did not give any further details.

Security agency sources said the team includes National Security Intelligence (NSI) Director Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad, Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam, Special Branch Additional DIG Azizur Rahman, Crime Investigation Department (CID) Special Superintendent Ashraful Islam, Police HQ official Mahfuz Ahmed and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence's (DGFI) Major Atiqur Rahman.

During its three-day visit, the team would discuss with several Indian intelligence bodies the involvement of Bangladeshi militants in the Burdwan blast.

NIA had made several arrests after the blast, some of them Bangladeshi nationals, the agency said.

During its visit to Dhaka earlier this month, the NIA gave a list of 11 blast suspects, who it believed were hiding in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's elite police unit the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has also given a list of 51 persons, including 10 militants suspected to be now in India.