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Jaish operative, his girlfriend, honeytrap, and a plan to ‘target’ CM Suvendu, CJP protest: Bengal police's big case
The Bengal STF arrested the alleged Jaish operative – who had planned to target Adhikari and carry out sabotage at the recent students' protest – on Friday.
An investigation into an extortion plan and the social media handle of a Jaish operative's alleged girlfriend led the West Bengal Special Task Force to uncover an alleged plan to track chief minister Suvendu Adhikari's movements for Pakistan-based criminals, officials have claimed.
The West Bengal STF arrested the alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed operative who had planned to target Adhikari and also carry out sabotage at the recent students' protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar in the guise of a police official, news agency PTI cited a senior officer of the unit as saying on Saturday.
The accused has been identified as Mohammed Hamim Mondal, who was arrested from Purba Bardhaman district on Friday and brought to Kolkata later that night for interrogation, IG (STF) Gaurav Sharma said. The STF also arrested Arpita Sarkar, alleged to be Mondal's girlfriend, on Friday.
The STF claimed that the duo had hatched a plot to honey-trap the son of a minister of state in West Bengal, and later abduct him to extort money from his family.
How did STF unravel the Jaish operative's plot?
The probe began after investigators received inputs regarding a conspiracy to extort money from the minister and abduct his son, according to another STF officer cited by PTI. “A few days ago, we received information about a plan to extort money from a senior politician from Howrah and abduct his son through a honey-trap. We were told that an organisation was behind the conspiracy,” the officer said
A probe into that led the STF to a social media handle from Sahibganj operated by Arpita Sarkar. Investigation into Sarkar's social media account then led the officers to the Jaish operative, the IG said. Mondal and Sarkar had allegedly been in contact for the last four years after getting acquainted on Instagram and later meeting in person. The STF said the two had been in a relationship and that the officers were further probing whether Sarkar had been used to lure potential targets as part of the honey-trap plan.
‘Contacted Pak-based handlers through WhatsApp, Telegram’
IG STF Gaurav Sharma said the investigation had establised Mondal's links with Pakistan-based handlers, adding that he had been working for them. The probe further revealed that Mondal had allegedly been radicalised through social media before coming in contact with Pakistan-based operatives linked to the Shahzad Bhatti group, Sharma added.
“Hamim had been assigned by Pakistan-based handlers the task of keeping a watch on the CM's movements. He was asked to gather information on the places the chief minister could remain unguarded,” PTI cited Sharma as saying at a press conference. Sharma added that several police officers and politicians were also targets.
The accused was reportedly in contact with the Pakistan-based handlers through encrypted messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and Telegram as well as Element X and Session.
“During the investigation of his mobile phone and social media chat history, we have found some very serious information. He was in touch with several Pakistan-based handlers through encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram,” Sharma said.
The Bengal STF sleuths said they had also recovered international SIM cards issued in the United Kingdom and Mexico from the accused. They said these SIM cards had allegedly been used “for encrypted communication with handlers operating from abroad and to facilitate the strengthening of sleeper cells and the terror network in different parts of the country.”
