By IANS,
Kolkata : Amidst nationwide security high alert after serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, West Bengal police Tuesday arrested two suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives from Murshidabad district.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of state’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Mohammad Mustaq Ahmed, 30, from his home at Gopalnagar area, about 250 km from here. A second LeT suspect Hasan-ud-Jamal alias Hasan Master was nabbed from Choto Kalia area of Jangipur.
“We arrested Mustaq and seized a few gelatine sticks (a high form of explosive), a laptop and some CDs with objectionable content (from him),” deputy inspector general of state CID (operation) Siddhinath Gupta told IANS.
Another laptop and some documents have been seized from Hasan, Gupta said.
“We are verifying all the contents of the CDs and the laptops and also interrogating the arrested to get other details about LeT’s operations in West Bengal,” said the police officer.
The Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, LeT, has a significant presence in Jammu and Kashmir with its foreign militants fighting against the Indian Army in that state of India.
Gupta said Mustaq was the linkman of the LeT in West Bengal and he used to conduct secret meetings with his counterparts in neighbouring Bangladesh.
“We have got information that other LeT members used to visit Mustaq’s place at Gopalnagar, about 10 km from the India-Bangladesh border, breaching the international fence and held secret meetings there,” the police officer said.
“Another LeT linkman, Sikandar Ajam, who was arrested last week from Jammu and Kashmir, came to Mustaq’s place and then headed for his destination in Kashmir from Murshidabad,” Gupta said.
Mustaq, a Pakistan trained militant, ran a small garment shop at Raghunathganj area, police sources said.
“Mustaq was given a responsibility to provide shelter to the LeT members here and also to look after the recruitment procedure of the terrorist module,” sources said.
Hasan, police sources said, was working as a part-time teacher for some time at a primary school in Choto Kalia.
India and Bangladesh share a 4,095-km long boundary. Murshidabad shares a porous border with Bangladesh.