Staff Reporter :
Rahmatullah alias Sheikh Sadiq alias Sajid, the prime suspect of Burdwan blast in West Bengal of India, has claimed himself a Bangladeshi in a Kolkata sessions court, Times of India reported on Monday.
The court on Sunday sent Sajid, the October 2 Khagragarh blast mastermind, to a 12-day remand as sought by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Chief Judge Md Mumtaz Khan passed the order saying that he was allowing the NIA appeal till November 20 to unearth the truth due to the larger national security ramifications.
The judge, however, reminded the NIA that all apex court guidelines regarding medical facilities and amenities should be adhered to.
The report says: “The judge then asked Sadiq his name. Sadiq didn’t speak a word on the charges slapped against him.”
For NIA Sadiq’s admission that he is a Bangladeshi also made him liable to be prosecuted Under Section 14 of Foreigners Act, 1946.
The judge then passed his order. He read out in courtroom that “He is remanding the accused to NIA custody till November 20.”
On October 2, the blast had taken place in a house at Khagragarh in Burdwan town, killing one Shakil Ahmed on the spot. Another person, Sovan Mandal, died in hospital. Both were suspected to have links with JMB.
Another person, Hasan Saheb, who was also injured in the blast, gave some information which led to the arrest of six people in Assam.
However, only two women, including the wife of one of the dead man, were useful in giving some sketchy information about the blast conspiracy.
The arrested accused identified Sajid and his wife Fatima as ‘lead trainers’ at Simulia Madrasa where people were being indoctrinated in jihad and kept in readiness for indulging in terror activities.
Sajid is alleged to have paid an amount of Rs 8.75 lakh to another accused Kausar, also a Bangladeshi national, for purchase of land for a madrasa in Burdwan.
His interrogation is expected to give some vital information about the plans of JMB in India as well as in Bangladesh besides the location of nearly 40 Improvised Explosive Devices that were shipped ahead of the October 2 blast.
Meanwhile, another Indian daily The Hindu reported that the NIA on Monday arrested one more key suspected member of banned JMB terror outfit at Birbhum in West Bengal in connection with the Burdwan blast case.
Amjad Sheikh, 30, a resident of Birbhum in West Bengal, carried a reward of Rs.10 lakh on his head. According to the agency, he was one of the main conspirators in the blast case and was instrumental in procuring explosive chemicals that were being used to configure improvised explosive devices meant for supply to the JMB cadres in Bangladesh.
The accused procured the precursors to explosives from chemical shops in West Bengal. After his name cropped up during the NIA probe, it conducted searches at his Kolkata residence and recovered receipts/vouchers of chemical purchases. “The chemicals had been used for manufacturing bombs,” said an NIA official.
Amjad Sheikh was allegedly part of the JMB top brass in India. After the explosion on October 2, he went into hiding and visited Delhi on October 8. He then went to Basti in Uttar Pradesh where he was provided shelter for a few days by a policeman.
The accused then went back to Birbhum where he was arrested by the NIA on Monday. He was also closely involved in running training modules for the outfit at two madrasas in West Bengal, said the NIA in a press statement.
Our Narayanganj correspondent adds: The detained mastermind of the Burdwan blast in India, Sajid, is none but Masum, who was born and brought up in Narayanganj.
He is one of the operatives of the banned JMB militant outfit.
Masum’s father Siddique worked with Bawani Jute Mills and he was locally known as ‘Pocha Miah”.
Masum’s father died when he was just one and a half years old. His family was too poor to afford his living. Anyway, his elder brother admitted him to a Madrassa at Jatrabari. He passed Dakhil from there.
He came into contact with Shaikh Abdur Rahman, founder of JMB, who was captured and executed following court verdict.
The youth was trained by Ataur Rahman Sunny, a JMB operation commander. Sunny was also captured and hanged for his guilt. He gradually became a notorious Jihadi while living with his mentor Sunny at Tejgaon. Masum changed his name registered with Madrasa to Sajid.
In 1997, Masum and his accomplices were detained by security forces in Chittagong along with a large number of weapons and explosives.
After five years, his elder brother Mamoon and uncle Afsar sold a house to pay for his bail bond and got him released.
After living with them for some time, Masum left the house and for a long time he was not in contact with his family. Only once he called home to inform them that he was going to Afghanistan to join the Jihad.
It is not known when he returned to Bangladesh. His whereabouts were not known to the security agencies for years.
