Burdwan blast accused arrested from Kolkata

NIA annoounced Rs 3 lakh award on the head of Sheikh Burhan. The agency is also looking for his wife.

The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police, on Thursday evening, arrested Sheikh Burhan, a prime accused in the 2014 Burdwan blast case. He carried an award of Rs 3 lakh on his head declared by National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Policemen outside the house at Khagragarh, Burdwan where the IED blast took place on October 2, 2014.(HT Photo)

The IED explosion on October 2, 2014 killed two suspected Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists, who were running a terror module in a rented house in Burdwan town. NIA subsequently took up investigation and exposed a flourshing network of terror in at least four districts of West Bengal.

Read: JMB’s Nasirullah, responsible for Burdwan blast, held in Bangladesh

With the arrest of Burhan, the total number of arrests in connection with the blast reached 27. A total of 34 persons were accused in the case. 

“Tipped of by sources, the STF sleuths nabbed him from busy B B Ganguly Street near Sealdah station on Thursday evening,” a Kolkata Police officer said. 

The next hearing for the case at an NIA court at Kolkata is scheduled between November 20 and 30. Kolkata Police sources said that before coming to Kolkata, Burhan was hiding at East Najirchowk, a small village in Murshidabad district.

Read: NIA files charge sheet in Burdwan blast case 

NIA is still searching for Burhan’s wife Shahnawaz Begum. The sleuths suspect that she has taken a shelter in Bangladesh, the country of her ancestral residence. She used to assist her husband actively in running the terror module at Khagragarh under the garb of a madrasa.