KOLKATA: The arrest of one of the masterminds behind the Burdwan blast from Jharkhand on Saturday has sparked concern within intelligence agencies on terrorists fanning out and lying low across the country.
Rezaul Karim had fled to Jharkhand and through a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terrorist obtained a job as a mason. The NIA had announced a reward of `5L for information leading to Karim’s capture.
The Burdwan blast has put West Bengal under the scanner of intelligence agencies, and hence, terrorists of the JuMB, IM and SIMI are likely to spread out across the country and maintain a low profile for a period before resuming their activities.
The neighbouring state of Jharkhand is likely to be the new terror base in the country, with West Bengal being a safe corridor for infiltration into Bangladesh, they said.
A large number of JuMB terrorists are sneaking into West Bengal and Assam through the porous border with Bangladesh, following unrest in the country and the crackdown by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on all fundamentalist organisations in Bangladesh. The JuMB terrorists are now infiltrating into India and seeking temporary shelter mainly in the districts of Dhubri, Goalpara and Barpeta of Assam and in Alupurduar, Murshidabad, Nadia and North and South 24 Parganas of West Bengal.
Intelligence agencies in both countries have sounded alert to step up vigil as the Burdwan blast revealed the JuMB network had spread to Assam and Jharkhand.
The RAB in a crackdown, last week, “eliminated” several JuMB activists in Bangladesh.
Failing to counter the RAB, they vented their anger on Hindus and looted and burnt several Hindu homes in Bangladesh. This led to more stringent action by the Awami League government, which intensified its operations against them forcing them to flee and cross over to India.
The NIA and the NSG are probing into the mushrooming of madrasas in West Bengal, where youth, including young women, are indoctrinated in jehadi philosophy and are trained in arms and manufacturing explosives.
The NIA has also unveiled the identity of three youth, who had helped JuMB terrorists enter West Bengal.