The ongoing crackdown against the operatives of outfits having links with terrorist organisations based in India’s eastern and western neighbours has raised serious concern for the intelligence agencies as one of the arrested suspects visited Pakistan nine times.
In another development in Assam on Wednesday, police found improvised hand-grenade along with AK-47 rifles and explosives from the possession of two suspects who have links with Bangladesh based terror outfit Ansar-al-Islam, also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
Sources in the central Intelligence Bureau (IB) said Javed Munshi, who was arrested from Canning in South 24 Parganas three days ago, is an operative of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen.
"He visited Kashmir on nine occasions. He was trained in Pakistan under the guidance of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is an explosive expert. The 58-year-old man's purpose to visit Canning, where his brother-in-law's house is located, is yet to be ascertained," said an IB officer.
The IB suspects Munshi might have had an intention to carry out a recce along the India-Bangladesh border.
In the eastern part of Bengal, recovery of cache of arms and ammunition from two suspects has triggered a concern for the law enforcement agencies.
"We have recovered improvised hand grenades from the two, which is a major concern for us. It appears the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was developed in northeast India. The suspects had intention to create unrest in the northeast and in the Siliguri corridor considering the changed political scenario in Bangladesh," said the officer.
The sources in the IB said the raw materials required for making the IED was procured from Bengal's neighbouring states like Jharkhand and Bihar. "The rifles of AK-47 series were also procured from Bihar's Munger, the place known for manufacturing improvised firearms," said the officer.
In last one week, Assam STF has arrested 10 persons, suspected to be terrorists, from the northeast state, West Bengal and Kerala.
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