Staff Reporter :
Dhaka has warned Delhi of huge terrorists influx into India from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh government has sent a report to the Indian home ministry, warning that over 2,000 Harkat-ul-Jihadi al-Islami (HuJI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had possibly crossed into the Indian side from the Bangladesh border and are hiding in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, said Times of India on Tuesday.
According to the report, 2016 had witnessed more than three-fold increase over 2015 in infiltration by HuJI and JMB extremists into the border states of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
The development assumes significance as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found overseas terror links and the direct role of JMB in the October 2014 Burdwan blast at Khagragarh in which two suspected terrorists were killed.
The report said approximately 2,010 HuJI and JMB operatives had entered the three states.
While nearly 720 men made a safe passage through the Bengal border, the remaining 1,290 are suspected to have entered through Assam and Tripura borders.
Bengal government officials are skeptical about the report, but even if just a close estimate, the number is disturbing as intelligence reports pegged the number of infiltrators in 2014 and 2015 at 800 and 659 respectively.
“We are trying to gather information to confirm the veracity of the report,” a senior Bengal home department official said. However, Assam police is concerned about the development.
“There is certainly an increase in terrorist activity because over the last six months, we have arrested 54 JMB operatives,” additional director-general of police (SB), Assam, Pallab Bhattcharyya, said.
“We have formed a high-powered committee of top police officers and MLAs to check infiltration. They visit the border regularly and conduct meetings with security forces,” he added.
There is also information that JMB secretary Iftadur Rehman entered India on January 12 this year on a fake passport and has established contact with linkmen in Assam and Bengal. He may also visit Delhi, intelligence sources said.
Iftadur’s real name is Sajjad Hussain. “Apart from that we also have information that on January 18, a meeting between linkmen from Assam, West Bengal and New Delhi and the top JMB and HuJI leadership took place in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh,” a source said.
According to senior cops, there has been a change in the operational mechanism of these militants post-Khagragarh and this was creating problems in tracking them.
“Previously, there were certain porous districts like Malda, Murshidabad or Nadia through which they came. Now, they are coming through Assam and Tripura and then entering West Bengal. This is easier and safer for them,” a senior Bengal police officer said.
“Being a riverine border, it is difficult for security agencies to keep vigil,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, Additional Director-General of police (SB) in Assam, Pallab Bhattcharyya, has expressed his concern over the terrorist activities.
He admitted that there has been a rise in terrorist activities over the last six months and that the Assam police had already arrested 54 JMB operatives.
Intelligence sources said a top JMB leader Iftadur Rahman entered India on Jan 12 of this year on a fake passport and has established contact with linkmen in Assam and Bengal. He may also visit Delhi, they added.
Dhaka has warned Delhi of huge terrorists influx into India from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh government has sent a report to the Indian home ministry, warning that over 2,000 Harkat-ul-Jihadi al-Islami (HuJI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had possibly crossed into the Indian side from the Bangladesh border and are hiding in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, said Times of India on Tuesday.
According to the report, 2016 had witnessed more than three-fold increase over 2015 in infiltration by HuJI and JMB extremists into the border states of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
The development assumes significance as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found overseas terror links and the direct role of JMB in the October 2014 Burdwan blast at Khagragarh in which two suspected terrorists were killed.
The report said approximately 2,010 HuJI and JMB operatives had entered the three states.
While nearly 720 men made a safe passage through the Bengal border, the remaining 1,290 are suspected to have entered through Assam and Tripura borders.
Bengal government officials are skeptical about the report, but even if just a close estimate, the number is disturbing as intelligence reports pegged the number of infiltrators in 2014 and 2015 at 800 and 659 respectively.
“We are trying to gather information to confirm the veracity of the report,” a senior Bengal home department official said. However, Assam police is concerned about the development.
“There is certainly an increase in terrorist activity because over the last six months, we have arrested 54 JMB operatives,” additional director-general of police (SB), Assam, Pallab Bhattcharyya, said.
“We have formed a high-powered committee of top police officers and MLAs to check infiltration. They visit the border regularly and conduct meetings with security forces,” he added.
There is also information that JMB secretary Iftadur Rehman entered India on January 12 this year on a fake passport and has established contact with linkmen in Assam and Bengal. He may also visit Delhi, intelligence sources said.
Iftadur’s real name is Sajjad Hussain. “Apart from that we also have information that on January 18, a meeting between linkmen from Assam, West Bengal and New Delhi and the top JMB and HuJI leadership took place in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh,” a source said.
According to senior cops, there has been a change in the operational mechanism of these militants post-Khagragarh and this was creating problems in tracking them.
“Previously, there were certain porous districts like Malda, Murshidabad or Nadia through which they came. Now, they are coming through Assam and Tripura and then entering West Bengal. This is easier and safer for them,” a senior Bengal police officer said.
“Being a riverine border, it is difficult for security agencies to keep vigil,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, Additional Director-General of police (SB) in Assam, Pallab Bhattcharyya, has expressed his concern over the terrorist activities.
He admitted that there has been a rise in terrorist activities over the last six months and that the Assam police had already arrested 54 JMB operatives.
Intelligence sources said a top JMB leader Iftadur Rahman entered India on Jan 12 of this year on a fake passport and has established contact with linkmen in Assam and Bengal. He may also visit Delhi, they added.
