The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) that had set up bases in West Bengal’s border districts used Murshidabad’s New Farakka railway junction as the nodal transit point from where its cadres could easily board trains for different parts of the country.
Revealing this, Bardhaman blast “kingpin” Sheikh Rahmatullah alias Sajid, who was arrested last week, is learnt to have also disclosed during interrogation that the last few years saw a spurt in the outfit’s activities in West Bengal. About two years ago, the Bangladesh Police arrested him, but he managed to get out, crossing over to India to join other JMB cadres.
Sajid, who carried a Rs.10-lakh NIA bounty on his head, set up hideouts in West Bengal’s Birbhum and Jharkhand’s Sahibganj.
He told his interrogators that while the JMB’s bases were largely in the West Bengal districts of Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, Birbhum and Bardhaman, the organisation also succeeded in activating a network of sympathisers and active members in Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand.
At Murshidabad’s New Farakka railway station, the JMB cadres could board trains for key destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Ranchi and Patna.
“It proved to be a major transit for the outfit members. Many people, mostly masons working in different parts, were motivated to join,” said an NIA official.
Seven persons had already been arrested in Assam, he added, saying the NIA has sought transfer of all the cases registered in the State to it for a comprehensive investigation.
