Bangladesh investigators question Burdwan blast accused in Kolkata

Senior police and security officials of Bangladesh are interrogating the three accused in the Burdwan blast case to unravel how strong the complicity of Bangladesh-based terror outfits is with Myanmar’s Rohingya organisations.

Kolkata Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 28 Nov 2014, 06:28 PM
Updated : 28 Nov 2014, 06:32 PM

The delegation arrived in Kolkata around 5:30pm on Thursday and did one round of interrogation immediately after reaching the National Investigation Agency’s office at a CRPF camp in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, NIA sources told bdnews24.com.

The Rohingya dimension to the Oct 2 Burdwan blast, believed to be masterminded by the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, came to light after the recent arrest in Hyderabad of Myanmar national named Khaleed alias Khalid Mohammed of the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation.

Khaleed reportedly ran terror camps on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and also had links with Tehrik-e-Taliban of Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, the NIA got five-day custody of the three accused, Sheikh Rahmatulla Sajid, 'Khaled' and 'Hakim', after the agency submitted before the City Sessions Court that sleuths from Bangladesh wanted to further interrogate the trio.

Sajid is a Bangladeshi national and Indian authorities claimed that the 40-year-old from Narayanganj is a JMB commander.

Sources said the Bangladesh delegation again interrogated them on Friday evening at the NIA office.

The visiting delegation also held several rounds of meeting with NIA’s IGP Sanjeeb Kumar Singh and other senior officials.

Sources said the Bangladesh team might also visit the Burdwan blast site.

Meanwhile, a JMB poster on Thursday surfaced in the city’s Lake Town area threatening to trigger blasts in important areas of Kolkata, including Sealdah Railway Station.

Bangladesh and India haveagreed to share intelligence after the involvement of Bangladeshi militants came to light in the Oct 2 blast.

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

NIA team in Dhaka

The NIA felt the need to investigate in Bangladesh and a four-member team came to in Dhaka on Nov 17.
RAB and NIA at the time exchanged lists of terrorists, militants and fugitives who are hiding in both countries.
Now the Bangladeshi team has gone to India in a follow-up to the NIA team's visit.
Bangladesh team is led by Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner Md Monirul Islam.
It includes Special Branch Additional DIG GM Azizur Rahman, National Security Intelligence Director Col Abu Hena Mostofa, RAB's Lt Col Mohammed Abul Kalam Azad, Police Headquarters AIG Mahfuzur Rahman, Crime Investigation Department (CID) Special Superintendent Md Ashraful Islam and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence's Major Mohammad Atiqur Rahman.