Burdwan: ‘100 made-in-India IEDs sent to Bangladesh’

Before an accidental blast in Burdwan took the lid off a conspiracy to carry out terror strikes in Bangladesh, suspected Jammat-ul-Mujahideen operatives managed to transport around 100 made-in-Bengal IEDs to the neighbouring country, sources told HT.

Before an accidental blast in Burdwan took the lid off a conspiracy to carry out terror strikes in Bangladesh, suspected Jammat-ul-Mujahideen operatives managed to transport around 100 made-in-Bengal IEDs to the neighbouring country, sources told HT.

“NIA sleuths after interrogating two female and a male suspects… have managed to map at least half a dozen instances in the last three months when around 12-15 IEDs were transported during each visit to Bangladesh by the module detected in Burdwan,” said central counter terror official requesting anonymity.

The October 2 blast resulted in the killing of two suspected members — Shakil Ahmed and Suvon Mandal alias Subhan of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is a proscribed outfit in the neighbouring country. The state police recovered around 60 IEDs and bags of explosives from the house.

After the NIA took over the case, it recovered around 39 more IEDs from the house of another suspect.

“It is quite possible that more IEDs may have been sent to Bangladesh. The larger plot will only emerge when the absconding accused in the case will be nabbed,” added the official.

According to counter-terror sources, the two arrested women were more the victims than the accused. “Their family members almost forced them to marry two men from the JMB who died in the blast... They were used as foot soldiers by their husbands and their associates. That’s why the NIA didn’t seek extension of their custodial remand. The women are back in the judicial custody,” said the official.