India and Bangladesh to exchange information on all terror organisations

KOLKATA: India and Bangladesh have decided to exchange all information on terror organisations, including the Jammat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM), which as responsible for the blast at Khagragarh in Burdwan last year.

During a four-day visit to Dhaka in May, the National Investigation Agency used the database of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the anti-terror unit of the Bangladesh Police, to build its inventory of terror outfits in the neighbouring country.

Now, the Indian central agency is keen on further strengthening the connection with the Bangaldeshi unit to nail terror groups. The NIA, which submitted a formal chargesheet in the Khagragarh blast case on March 30, has hinted that the RAB dossiers might prove invaluable evidence in the trial.

Among the six absconding accused in the explosion case, the NIA is especially concerned about nabbing Talha Sheikh and Boma Mizan, JuM frontmen. "The Bangladesh anti-terror unit and we are exchanging details pertaining to the case, including the specifics of some cross-border calls in which the callers spoke about a plan of setting up a new base in Malda," said a senior NIA officer. "If we do nab at least three of the men who are currently absconding, we might submit a supplementary chargesheet. So, such exchange of information is crucial for the investigation."



A recent press release from the RAB stated: "We also shared evidence of the three fugitive Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh operatives' involvement in the blast."

The exercise is not merely restricted to JuM only. Inputs with R&AW, India's external intelligence agency, confirm that LeT and its political wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), are working on extending their footprint along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by taking advantage of the sectarian violence involving Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

According to information, JuD strongman Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is leading the anti-Myanmar campaign, espousing the cause of Rohingyas from various platforms in Pakistan, while his terror subordinates are visiting the Bangladesh - Myanmar border region.

Indian intelligence agencies fear the Bangladesh-Myanmar border might emerge as a new theatre of jihad in the not-too-distant future. The NIA had arrested a Rohingya in the Khagragarh case but later dropped his name from the chargesheet as they "did not have enough evidence" against him.

Intelligence inputs also suggest that apart from creating a new forum, Difa-e-Musalman Arakan (Burma) Conference (Defence of Muslims in Myanmar), to mobilize support for an anti-Myanmar government campaign, JuD deputed a two-member team, comprising its spokesperson Nadeem Awan and publications wing member Shahid Mahmood Rehmatullah to forge covert links with similar Islamic outfits in Bangladesh and Myanmar.