Key Burdwan blast suspect may have been hiding in Delhi

NEW DELHI: A key Burdwan blast suspect may have been hiding in Delhi around the time the National Investigation Agency (NIA), headquartered in the national capital, took over the probe from West Bengal police. Amjad Ali alias Kajal, the main supplier of chemicals for IEDs to be used by Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for attacks in Bangladesh and different parts of India, is believed to have escaped from West Bengal soon after the blast and was in Delhi on October 8.
According to the latest investigation update shared by the NIA with the Union home ministry, Amjad Ali was essentially sourcing the chemicals for IEDs, from Kolkata. His current whereabouts are not clear.
NIA's probe into SIM card details of the accused has not only exposed JMB's network extending to several Indian states, including West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu, but it has also thrown up numbers in Bangladesh, Nepal and Saudi Arabia.
Sajid, a jihadi trainer from Bangladesh and suspected head of Indian chapter of JMB, and his wife Fatima were lead trainers at two of the madrasas under the scanner – the Simulia madrasa in Burdwan and the Lalgola madrasa in Mukimnagar, Murshidabad. They were helped by Talha and Suman alias Sadike of Bangladesh in training and indoctrinating young men and women in jihad. JMB's larger purpose was to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh and the three West Bengal districts of Murshidabad, Malda and Nadia through violent means.
The JMB network recruited, indoctrinated and trained men and women in making IEDs and handling weapons at various madrasas across West Bengal. The interrogation of arrested accused Razia Bibi, Alima Bibi and Badrul Alam has revealed seamless terror linkages across West Bengal and Assam. The two dead JMB cadres, Shakil Ahmad and Suvon Mandal, along with Abdul Hakim, who was injured in the blast, used to essentially fabricate the bombs, while Kausar Shaikh, Kadir and others would transport them, mainly to Bangladesh.
Incidentally, both Razia and Alima were actively engaged in jihadi training at the Simulia madrasa, run by Yusuf Shaikh, and Lalgola madrasa, run by Mofazel Hassan alias Laden. Yusuf, Imam of Burbaqpur mosque at Nadia, had also bought land worth Rs 8.75 lakh in Burdwan for construction of a pucca madrasa building. Another accomplice Nasirullah Hathkata, who has lost his hand in an IED blast in Bangladesh, also purchased land in Beldanga for a mosque.
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Accused Shakil, who was killed in the October 2 blast, had come to India from Bangladesh around 2007. He received training from Bangladesh JMB cadres Nasirullah and Talha. The finances for the Indian JMB operations came from Kausar and Kadir, both frequent visitors to the Khagragarh house. The training of men/women in making IEDs has been on since 2012. The NIA probe team found that the accused fabricated 8-10 IEDs on a daily basis and had transported nearly 5-6 consignments comprising around 150-250 bombs to Bangladesh.
The JMB trainers would often motivate young women from a weak socio-economic background to join madrasas for higher studies. They were then married off either to JMB members from Bangladesh or local members. Marriage would provide a platform for Bangladeshi JMB cadres to acquire Indian identity and documents. For example, Kausar Sheikh, a Bangladeshi, married an Indian girl named Jannat in 2007 and acquired an Indian identity.