Bangladeshi chief of Burdwan terror module arrested

In a major breakthrough in the Burdwan blast case, West Bengal Police Saturday arrested Bangladeshi citizen Sk. Rahamatulla alias Sajid, described as the chief of the Burdwan module, from near the Dum Dum airport here.

"We arrested Sk. Rahamatullah alias Sajid from Jessore Road (under the airport police station). He is a resident of Narayanganj in Bangladesh. Preliminary interrogation revealed he was heading the Burdwan module. The NIA has also said so and had announced a Rs.10 lakh reward for information leading to his arrest," Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told media persons.

The 33-year-old Sajid is a senior leader of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

"According to unconfirmed reports, he is also a member of the majlis-e-shura (central committee) of the JMB," he said.

Sajid was picked up around 2.30 p.m. after police intercepted a courier who was supposed to hand over Rs.1 lakh to him.

"The Anti-Terrorism Squad team was following information about some illegal monetary transaction. Our men intercepted a courier when he was receiving the money. They managed to convince him to call Sajid. We laid a trap and rounded him," the police chief said.

Sajid would be handed over to the National Investigation Agency, which is probing the Oct 2 blast in the semi-urban locality of Khagragarh - about 100 km from Kolkata - in Burdwan town of Burdwan district.

The accidental blast inside a house killed two suspected JMB militants and injured another.

Sajid's arrest comes a day after the NIA nabbed his close associate Zia-ul-Haque from northern West Bengal's Malda district in connection with the blast.