BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered two Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) from a stormwater drain near a railway track in Ramanagara district, around 50 km from Bengaluru. The recoveries were made based on the revelation by Habib-ur-Rehman, a suspected member of the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), who was arrested by the agency officials from Doddaballapur near Bengaluru on Tuesday.
“Based on the disclosure of Habib-ur-Rehman, NIA has recovered two IEDs on Wednesday from a stormwater drain near a railway track in Ramanagara. The NIA sought the help of bomb disposal squad of Bengaluru city police to defuse the IEDs. The accused has also disclosed about his involvement in several instances of dacoities committed in Bengaluru city in 2018, in order to raise funds for the activities of JMB,” a release from NIA stated.
Earlier in the day, there were reports that Rehman had divulged information about disposing of eight IEDs, but the NIA officials confirmed that only two were found.
Following the NIA operation, Ramanagara Superintendent of Police Chetan Singh Rathod told The New Indian Express later, “The NIA has found some suspicious objects and they have seized it. I cannot comment further on the issue as they are probing the case. But there is no imminent danger and there is no reason for panic.”
It is believed that Rehman, a close aide of Jahid-ul-Islam alais Kausar, who was arrested from Ramanagara by NIA last August, may have disposed of the IEDs in the stormwater drain following Kausar’s arrest. But official sources would not confirmed it as the case is under investigation.
Habib-ur-Rehman S K alias Habib-ur-SK alias Sheikh alias Habibur Kabore Shaik (28) is a resident of Birbhum district in West Bengal and has been arrested in connection with the Burdwan blast in West Bengal in 2014. He was charge-sheeted on March 30, 2015 in the case for his direct involvement in the conspiracy hatched by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh to wage war against the governments of India and Bangladesh.