The National Investigation Agency (NIA), acting on information received from Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror suspect Jahidul Islam alias Kausar, recovered a large amount of “incriminating” material commonly used for preparation of IEDs and grenades in and around Bengaluru. Kausar and his associates had taken shelter in various parts of south India, including Bengaluru, after the blast in Burdwan, West Bengal in 2014.
Based on his claims, NIA teams raided some places in Attibele, Kadugodi, K.R. Puram, Chikkabanavara and Shikaripalya and Electronics City. Among the seized items are two cuboid shaped batteries wrapped with plastic tape and electric wire, one capacitor, three switches, one micro-lithium cell and one plastic transparent box containing black coloured chemical wrapped in a white paper, said the NIA.
They also recovered identity cards, a rent agreement for one of their hideouts, handwritten letters in Bengali, a digital camera and silver articles, which they had illegally acquired through theft and robberies in Bengaluru last year.
Mohammed Jahidul Islam aka Kausar was arrested by the NIA on August 5, 2019, at Ramanagara, He allegedly claimed he and another JMB member, Habibur Arif Fahim alias Fahad, had test-fired three rocket shells at Krishnagiri and and other locations near the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border between June and October 2017.
According to the NIA, they had prepared the shells using a crude device.
NIA officials have seized remnants of explosive materials, such as eight batteries of 1.5 volt each, a hollow cylindrical carton used for launching the rocket shell and pieces of electric wires.
In July this year, NIA officials had raided a house in Chikkabanavara and recovered five improvised hand grenades, three fabricated grenades caps, three IED circuits, one timer device, two rocket bends, one body of jacket, one 9-mm pistol with live ammunition, one air gun, suspected explosive powder and other incriminating materials.
The house was rented by members of JMB at the instance of Habibur Rahman, a JMB operative.
