PATNA: A suspected agent of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba was arrested by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Bihar’s Gopalganj based on inputs provided by a suspected LeT agent arrested recently in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Saturday.
Bedar Bakht alias Dhanu Raja was picked up by an NIA team on Jadopur Road in ward number 1 of the western Bihar town, where he was living at his maternal uncle’s house. He is a resident of Akhaur village under Nagar police station in the neighbouring Saran district, said officials.
While police said Bakht is associated with National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of Congress, NSUI leaders denied that he had ceased to be a member of the organisation three years ago.
“Bakht’s name cropped up during NIA’s interrogation of Abdul Naim Sheikh, an alleged LeT agent arrested in Varanasi. An NIA team reached Gopalganj on Thursday and arrested him the next day,” said Gopalganj SP Mrityunjay Kumar Chaudhary. Bakht was taken to Patna by the NIA team, he added.
NSUI’s Bihar state president Chunnu Singh said the students’ organisation had “nothing to do with Bedar Bakht”. “He occupies no post in NSUI starting from the districts to the state level,” he added.
“Bakht used to be with NSUI earlier. He was expelled from the organisation three years ago for anti-students and anti-party activities,” said NSUI’s Gopalganj district president Irshad Ali.
Bakth’s father, Feroze Alam, questioned the NIA action, saying his son had no involvement in any illegal activities. “He seems to have been framed by vested interests. He was associated with NSUI and never had a criminal case against him,” said Alam.
The arrest led to an alert issued by Gopalganj SP to all police stations in the district bordering UP. Station house officers (SHOs) were asked to increase patrolling and keep an eye on all suspected individuals in their areas, said sources.