NIA arrests Imam in Bengal’s East Burdwan for suspected terror links
Investigators reportedly find Bangladeshi phone numbers in his diary as Sheikh is questioned at Mangalkot police station
NIA arrests mosque Imam Piar Mohammad Sheikh in East Burdwan over suspected links with terror networks; a diary and mobile phone are seized
Investigators reportedly find Bangladeshi phone numbers in his diary as Sheikh is questioned at Mangalkot police station
Arrest comes amid NIA raids at five Bengal locations linked to a probe into alleged sleeper cells of Bangladesh-based JMB
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested a mosque Imam in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district on suspicion of having links with terror networks, officials said.
The arrested man has been identified as Piar Mohammad Sheikh, who had been serving as the Imam of a mosque in Palishgram village under Mangalkot police station. Sheikh is originally from Kulut village in the Monteswar area of the same district.
According to sources, an NIA team, assisted by local police personnel, conducted an operation at the Palishgram Purbapara mosque on Tuesday morning and detained Sheikh from the premises. The agency subsequently searched the room where he had been staying and seized a diary and a mobile phone.
Sources said investigators found several phone numbers belonging to Bangladeshi nationals in the diary. Sheikh was taken to Mangalkot police station for questioning, with NIA investigators seeking further information as part of their probe.
Local residents said Sheikh had been associated with the mosque for around three years and expressed surprise at his arrest. Some villagers said they had not suspected him of having any links with terrorist organisations operating from Bangladesh.
However, mosque committee member Golam Mustafa and some residents said Sheikh frequently travelled to Bangladesh. A villager claimed that Sheikh had recently spent nearly six months in Bangladesh before returning to Palishgram a few months ago.
The NIA has not officially disclosed whether Sheikh’s arrest is linked to parallel raids and searches conducted by separate agency teams at five locations across West Bengal since Tuesday morning.
The agency is investigating alleged sleeper cells of the Bangladesh-based militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Tuesday’s searches in West Bengal were carried out in connection with a case registered in neighbouring Assam and were based on information gathered by the NIA during its investigation.
Further details about the nature of Sheikh’s alleged links with any terror network were not immediately available.
With IANS inputs