Two JMB operatives arrested in Bengal

The Special Task Force of the Kolkata Police arrested two operatives of terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from West Bengal's Murshidabad district and seized a huge cache of explosive making material from them, an officer said here on Wednesday.

Police said the two accused were associates of JMB leader Kausar, one of the key accused in Burdwan's Khagragarh blast case of 2014.

"Two JMB operatives - Moshibur Rahman (35) and Ruhul Amin (26) - were arrested from Murshidabad during a joint raid with the district police here. Both are residents of the district's Raghunathgunj area," a release issued by the STF said.

According to STF officers, interrogation of a previously held JMB operative named Sajjad revealed that the two accused took training in making acid bombs and were planning an attack on the police to get Kausar released.

"They were associates of Sajjad and Kausar. They would have attacked the police with acid bombs to release Kausar. Explosive making materials including aluminium dust, calether (spirit of ether), sulphuric acid etc. has been recovered from them," the release said.

Both the accused were produced before the court on Wednesday.

The STF had on February 16 arrested from Kolkata's Babughat area a JMB operative named Ariful Islam, who was said to be involved in last year's Bodh Gaya blast.

Three days later, another operative named Asif Iqbal was arrested from a city railway station.

--IANS

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