3 Bangladeshis with suspected JMB link nabbed in Kolkata

The special task force of the Kolkata Police on Sunday afternoon arrested three Bangladeshi nationals with suspected links with the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), police said.

The three men have been identified as Naziur Rahman Pavel, 30; Mekail Khan, 30; and Rabiul Islam, 22. The police are trying to find out if the trio had plans to carry out a terror attack in Kolkata.

The suspects were living in a rented apartment at Haridevpur in the southern outskirts of Kolkata, said V Solomon Nesakumar, joint commissioner of police (STF).

The arrested men posed as traders and used to sell fruits and mosquito nets, police found. They used Hindu names to take the apartment on rent. Naziur Rahman, who is suspected to be the leader of the group, used the name Jayram Bapari. He also went by the name Joseph.

“Militant literature and documents seized from the suspects prove their links with the JMB. Fake identity cards were also seized. There is a diary that contains the names of Islamic State (IS) leaders,” said the joint commissioner.

“We have scrutinised their social media profiles. There is proof of their links with JMB militants,” said Aparajita Rai, deputy commissioner of police (STF).

“These men had links with Al Amin, the JMB leader based in Bangladesh,” she added.

The arrested men were being interrogated.

Reacting to the arrests, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh said, "Terror groups treat Bengal as a safe haven. We have seen several arrests in recent years."

Trinamool Congress leaders said the arrests prove that the police are active and vigilant.

The arrests come months after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested several men from Bengal’s Murshidabad district for alleged links with the Al Qaeda.

In September last year, the NIA arrested 10 people from West Bengal and Kerala. These arrests were followed by several more in the subsequent months.