Al-Qaeda terrorists arrested from West Bengal and Kerala by NIA. Image Courtesy – India Today
Nine Al-Qaeda terrorists arrested on Saturday morning from West Bengal and Kerala by The National Investigation Agency after multiple searches in the two states. Among the 9 arrested terrorists, 6 were from Murshidabad in West Bengal and 3 were from Ernakulam. According to the NIA, these 9 militants were involved in a sabotage plan.
The National Investigation Agency stated that Al-Qaeda militants had been active in various Indian states for some time. These active members worked on interstate modules. Their main goal was to kill innocent civilians. The terrorists had planned sabotage in various significant places of the country. Their aim was to create fear and panic in the minds of the masses through terrorist activities and sabotage.
Al-Qaeda’s operatives in this interstate module have been monitored by the National Investigation Agency for a long time. A special team of the NIA searched several places in West Bengal and Kerala. Eventually, 9 people were arrested from Murshidabad and Ernakulam. The NIA has started an investigation in an attempt to find out how they plotted sabotage in some places.
Several people have been arrested from multiple districts of Kerala in the last year including ISIS terrorists. Later, as the investigation progressed, it was found that ISIS had spread its teamwork in different parts of Kerala. Several of them have already been arrested.
Read: Indian army gunned down 5 terrorists in Kashmir, 5 martyred
On the other hand, the police-administration was aware of the growing number of militants in Murshidabad of West Bengal. Since then, several people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in several other militant attacks, including the Khagragar blast. The members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a militant organization of Bangladesh, were among them.
According to sources of the National Investigation Agency, Al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan were training these 9 militants utilizing the social media platforms. The order was to launch militant attacks in different parts of India. The target was the capital city of Delhi and adjoining areas. Various digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons, indigenous firearms, body armour made from local areas, various home-made explosives, books and documents were recovered from the terrorists.
West Bengal has become a home ground of the terrorists for quite a long time. The terrorists get some unofficial benefits with utilizing their religion in this state due to the majority of the secular people here. They initially remain above suspicion because the administration in West Bengal has been acting with a secular angle of vision since the past. So, the terrorists can easily stay in West Bengal and nobody doubts them. It is much easier to stay in West Bengal and make operation in the other states of India and communicate through various social media platforms.
After a preliminary investigation, the NIA said that the nine Al-Qaeda terrorists were raising money for a terrorist attack. Besides, they were supposed to go to Delhi recently. The purpose was to procure sophisticated firearms and other weapons.
According to NIA sources, name of the nine arrested militants is Murshid Hasan, Yaqub Biswas, Mosharraf Hossain, Nazmus Shakib, Abu Sufian, Moinul Mandal, Liu Yan Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal and Atitur Thaman. All of them will be produced in court and their application for police custody will be informed.
