Burdwan blast: Jamaat trainer remanded in NIA custody

NIA arrested Nurul Hoque alias Naeem on Thursday from near Howrah railway station

A city court on Friday remanded in 14-day custody of the NIA a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) member and a key co-conspirator in the October 2 Burdwan blast in West Bengal.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Nurul Hoque alias Naeem on Thursday from near the Howrah railway station.

Accepting NIA's plea, the court of Additional Sessions Judge Gopal Chandra Karmakar remanded Naeem in 14 days' custody of the central probe agency.

According to the investigators, Naeem, a resident of Domkal in Murshidabad district, was actively involved in local fund collection drive and provided training in arms firing, explosives handling and self-defence techniques in JMB terrorist training camps.

As a motivator' in radicalisation camps, Naeem used to show various video clips of Jehadi orientation to the new recruits, "urging them to join the Jihadi movement with the JMB and take revenge for the atrocities on Muslims worldwide".

Naeem was also a close associate of blast mastermind Sheikh Rehmatullah alias Sajid.

The accidental blast took place inside a house in Khagragarh in Burdwan, killing two JMB militants and injuring another.

The NIA in its charge sheet has indicted 21 people for the JMB's conspiracy to overthrow the existing democratically elected government in Bangladesh.

Taking up the probe on October 10, the NIA has arraigned 32 people as accused in the case, several of whom are missing and on the run.