New Delhi ignored Dhaka’s warnings on terror

NEW DELHI: Both the Centre and West Bengal government are currently working with great alacrity to neutralize the widespread network of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in the state and rest of the country. However, had the same alertness been shown a year ago — when Bangladesh began sending a series of inputs to India about JMB setting up bases in West Bengal — things perhaps would not have been as bad.

Sources within the security establishment say Bangladesh has been sending regular inputs about JMB setting up bases in West Bengal ever since unrest over war crimes tribunal orders began in that country. However, neither the state nor the Centre paid as much attention as it required.

Though JMB has been exerting influence in border districts of West Bengal since 2006, it was only in the past couple of years that it started recruiting furiously, establishing modules and making a large number of bombs.

"While the state ignored such warnings for its own political reasons, the Centre too took a piecemeal approach with IB merely passing on the information to the state. The alacrity with which it acted after the (Bardhaman) blasts was missing earlier as no one wanted to push Mamata beyond a point at that time," said a security establishment officer.

NIA has even found that a blast in a house in Metiaburj area of Kolkata two years ago was similar to the Bhardhaman blast. It was also found that key accused Shakil Ahmed, who died in the Bardhaman blast, was a frequent visitor to this area in Kolkata and had even lived there for some time. No one tried to join the dots in the past one year.

Sources said following tribunal orders, Bangladesh had launched massive crackdown on fundamentalist elements squeezing them out of their bases. As the plan for a fightback on other side of the divide took shape, West Bengal was seen as a safe haven given that Bangladeshis can easily mix with the local population.

"There is also no dearth of instances of bomb-making in Bengal. It rarely raises an eyebrow if a bomb, like the one that exploded in Bardhaman, is found as such bombs have been a regular affair in Bengal politics. This was one of the reasons for slow reaction of West Bengal government after the blasts," said the officer.