Suspected operative of terror outfit JMB produced before court

A suspected operative of terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh was produced before the court of a judicial magistrate here on Tuesday after he was arrested by the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police with the help of local police.

The magistrate granted a transit remand to suspect Asadullah Sheikh, who was later taken by the STF, the local police said.

Sheikh (35) has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code after he was nabbed from his hideout in the city's Neelankarai area, they added.

"We had information that Raja was hiding in Chennai. Our officers conducted a raid and nabbed him from Neelankarai area. He was residing in a rented house there. Raja is an active member of the JMB," a senior officer of Kolkata Police STF said.

Several documents and a mobile phone were seized from his possession, he added.

Five suspected JMB members, including Sheikh, have been arrested by the Kolkata Police since the last week of August. A top operative of the outfit who was involved in the 2018 Bodh Gaya blast was arrested from Bihar.

The Centre, in May this year, declared the Bangladesh-based JMB, which is blamed for the terror attack on a Dhaka cafe in 2016 that claimed the lives of 22 people, including 17 foreigners, a banned terrorist organisation.