3 Bangladeshis among 6 JMB men held in India

Six suspected operatives of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have been arrested in India.

Three of them are Bangladeshi nationals. They are Anwar Hossain Faruk alias Enam, Mohammad Rubel alias Rafique and Zabirul Islam alias Zahid, Joint Commissioner (detective) of Kolkata police Vishal Garg told reporters at the Kolkata police headquarters yesterday.

Anwar and Rubel are from Jamalpur. Rubel is trained in making improvised explosive devices (IED), he said.

The three Indians are Maulana Yusuf alias Yusuf Sheikh, Shahidul Islam and Abul Kalam Azad.

Of the six, Maulana Yusuf, Shahidul, Abul Kalam Azad and Zabirul are wanted in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, the police official said.

Vishal said Anwar had been working as the chief of the outfit's West Bengal unit and Maulana Yusuf was the second-in-command of the outfit in the state.

The Special Task Force of Kolkata police made the arrests at different times, he said.

However, according to Indian newspaper The Hindu, five of the JMB operatives were arrested on Saturday while another was arrested yesterday morning.

Detonators, 2kg powder (suspected to be explosives), mobile phones and equipment used for cutting wires were seized from them, Vishal said.

He said the arrestees went into hiding in northern and southern India after the Burdwan blast.

The six would be interrogated in police remand to know if they had plans to carry out attacks in areas other than West Bengal, the joint commissioner added.

The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced Rs 10 lakh reward for information leading to the arrest of Maulana Yusuf. It also announced Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Rubel, Abul Kalam Azad and Zabirul, he said.

Vishal claimed that the six JMB operatives were arrested in different areas. Anwar was arrested from Bongaon-Bagda border area. He might have crossed over to India a few days ago.

Asked about the three Bangladeshi suspected JMB operatives' arrest in India, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday at a briefing at his ministry said he was yet to be informed about the matter.