Burdwan (WB), Jul 31: A suspected operative of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed was arrested in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, and investigators were probing links to an ISI-backed module possibly collecting information on BJP and RSS leaders, police sources said on Friday.
The Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police arrested Hamim Mondal from his rented accommodation at Renaissance Complex in Burdwan town late on Thursday night. He is a native of Kusumgram in Purba Bardhaman district.
Local police had initially said the arrested person was Hamid Mondal. However, it rectified the name later.
Police sources said electronic devices, including a mobile phone, seized from Mondal were being examined to find out who he was communicating with, his movements and plans.
Investigators suspect Mondal had come in contact with the terror outfit's module, allegedly run by gangster Shahzad Bhatti and his associate Azmal Gujjar, about a year ago through social media.
Security agencies believe Bhatti's network has been involved in cross-border narcotics and arms smuggling and that proceeds from the drug trade have been used to finance terror activities in India, with the backing of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), sources said.
The accused left his job of barcode tagging ready-made clothes at a garments unit in Howrah's Pilkhana area before this year's assembly elections and shifted to Burdwan town, where he rented the apartment in the upscale housing complex, police sources said.
Sources said the STF was examining whether Mondal earlier lived in a rented flat in New Town, on the outskirts of Kolkata. Investigators believe that he conducted reconnaissance of the movements of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who resides there.
Materials recovered during the investigation suggested that Mondal had collected information relating to Adhikari, prompting investigators to examine whether there was a plan to target him, police sources said.
Describing the case as "extremely sensitive", Adhikari said it involved issues of national security and that the STF was analysing the data recovered from the accused's electronic devices.
"This is an extremely sensitive matter. There are international links. It concerns national security. The STF is investigating the case and examining the information recovered from his mobile phone and other electronic devices," he told reporters.
"This is not just about my security. It is a matter of national security," the chief minister said.
The investigators are also probing whether Mondal was part of a larger network tasked with gathering information on BJP and RSS functionaries in West Bengal.
Mobile tower location data and digital evidence indicate that he was in regular touch with his handlers, the sources claimed.
Police are also verifying Mondal's identity and questioning landlords of Mondal's rented accommodations to trace his movements and activities.
He is suspected to be a close associate of Sajjad Bhat, one of the alleged masterminds of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, police sources said.
On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 40 personnel.
Police are also examining whether Mondal had any role in the threats state minister BJP Umesh Rai allegedly received recently.
Rai had complained to police that he had received extortion calls from a person claiming links with a "Pakistani agency" and was threatened with his son's kidnapping.
The minister had also told police that the caller had sent him photographs of the BJP office and had warned of an attack on the premises.
Police sources said investigators were now trying to find out whether Mondal has any connection with those threats.
Mondal was produced before a court in Burdwan on Friday, and the STF sought his custody to probe the alleged terror network and establish the full extent of his contacts and activities in the state. (AGENCIES)
