Top JMB terrorist arrested in Bengal’s Murshidabad district

KOLKATA, May 29: A top Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorist, allegedly involved in the 2018 Bodh Gaya blast case, was arrested from a hideout in Murshidabad district of West Bengal early on Friday, a senior police officer said.

The special task force (STF) unit of the Kolkata Police along with Murshidabad district police and local officers in Suti town arrested Abdul Karim alias Boro Karim, one of the JMB’s top operatives in the country, the officer said.

“He had provided shelter to JMB leaders from Bangladesh, who were directly involved in the Bodh Gaya blast. He was arrested this morning from Suti police station area of Murshidabad district,” the officer said.

In 2018, the STF unit had seized a huge quantity of explosives and ‘jihadi’ material from his house in Murshidabad.

Karim could not be traced back then.

Police sources said that Karim has not been named by the National Investigative Agency in its charge sheet in the Bodh Gaya blast case, but had been under the scanner for a while.

“He is one of the top JMB operatives in India. We are looking for him for quite sometime. With this arrest the top three wanted JMB terrorists in India is now reduced to two. He will be produced before a court and we will seek police custody,” the officer added.

Talking about the terrorist, the senior officer said, “He was the main leader of the Dhuliyan module and would actively supply logistics and support, shelter to top JMB leaders like Saleuddin. His name was mentioned as the main operative also by JMB terrorists in Bangladesh during their interrogation.”

Karim was later in the day produced before a city court which remanded him to police custody till June 12.

On January 19, 2018, a low-intensity bomb had exploded hours after Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama had finished a sermon at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya in Bihar.

The NIA has so far arrested five people in connection with the case. (PTI)