Bangladesh militant among two convicted of terror financing in Burdwan blast case

A Bangladesh national belonging to the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, or JMB, has been convicted by an Indian court of money laundering and terror financing in connection with the 2014 Burdwan blast case, reports India Today.

An Indian national has also been convicted in the case, according to the report.

The Bangladeshi national has been identified as ‘Rahamatullah’ alias ‘Sajid’, a member of JMB terror outfit, while the Indian national as Mohammed Burhan.

Both of them were convicted under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA by a Kolkata court on Wednesday, officials said.

The quantum of sentence will be pronounced by the court on Mar 17, they added.

In 2014, the National Investigation Agency, or NIA, booked the two and a few others under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

On Oct 2 that year, an explosion took place in a house located at Khagragarh locality of Burdwan town in West Bengal leading to the death of two people and injuring a few others.

"It was a result of a larger ongoing conspiracy of JMB, an Islamic terrorist organisation operating primarily in Bangladesh," the case record stated.

The Enforcement Directorate filed a criminal case of money laundering based on an FIR filed by the NIA and later attached, under PMLA, land plots in Simulia village of Burdwan and two bank accounts linked to the two convicts.