Two suspected B’deshi terrorists, Indian accomplice arrested

Kolkata: Two suspected members of a banned Bangladeshi terror outfit and their Indian accomplice were today arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of the city police from Kolkata railway station here, a top police officer said.

Samsad Mia alias Tanvir Saiful alias Tushar Biswas and Rizaul Islam alias Riaz from Sylhet and Khulna respectively in Bangladesh, had entered India one-and-half years ago, STF Deputy Commissioner Muralidhar Sharma said.

Samsad, who is an engineer, had a PAN card in his possession bearing the name Tushar Biswas. Fifty Aadhaar cards and handwritten chits with names of areas in the city, like Dharmatala and Park Street were found from them, he said.

Visiting cards of some well-known chemical shops, were also seized. Police suspect that they bought chemicals from those shops to make bombs, the STF Deputy Commissioner said.

Their Indian accomplice, an alleged arms dealer, has been identified as Manotosh Dey alias Mona a resident of Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, he said.

Addressing a press conference, Sharma said the two suspected members of Bangladesh’s ‘Ansar Bangla’, a banned Islamic extremist organisation, and their Indian accomplice were arrested from Kolkata station around 2 pm when they went to meet each other.

Samsad Mia and Rizaul Islam are suspected to have been behind the murder of 17 bloggers in Bangladesh, he said.

Several magazines were seized from them. Documents on jihad linked to several terrorist groups, including al Qaeda were found from the Bangladeshis, the officer said adding probe to ascertain their link to al Qaeda is underway.

“Investigation is at a very early stage and we need to talk to these people and get to know about their plans and where they were staying during this period,” the officer said.

All the arrested persons will be produced in court tomorrow.

PTI