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Tuesday, November 11, 2014, Kartik 27, 1421, Muharram 17, 1436 Hijr


Masum's Brother Held From N'ganj
India's NIA team due next week
Saleem Samad, with Raju Ahmed in Narayanganj
Publish Date : 2014-11-11,  Publish Time : 00:00,  View Count : 188
A team of India's top security outfit, National Investigation Agency (NIA), is expected to arrive in Dhaka next week in connection with its ongoing probe into Burdwan blast.
The team is likely to visit some places in Bangladesh as involvement of the members of the banned militant group Jamaatul Mujahideen - Bangladesh (JMB) has been suspected.
State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told journalists on Monday that NIA had formally sought permission to visit Bangladesh to carry out investigation into the incident.
Two men, believed to be members of the JMB, were killed in Khagrapur area in an explosion at a house on October 2 at Burdwan in West Bengal. A large quantity of bomb-making materials and some improvised explosive devices (IEDs), phone SIMs and Jihadi booklets were recovered from the site.
Four persons, including two women were arrested in this connection. An arrested woman told interrogators that the bombs they assembled were meant for launching attacks on VIPs in Bangladesh, prompting New Delhi to alert Dhaka.
The NIA probe team would be led by Inspector General Sanjeev Kumar Singh, said Asaduzzaman.
Bangladesh has agreed in principle to extend full cooperation to the high- profile probe team's first- ever visit here, he added.
An official of the Foreign Office told The Daily Observer that they had received a formal letter from Delhi regarding the NIA's visit. The letter would be despatched to the Home Affairs Ministry today (Tuesday), he official said.
About content of the letter, the official said it explains the purpose of the visit and the kind of cooperation and logistics they are expecting from Bangladesh authority.
However, the cooperation and logistics would be coordinated by the Home Affairs Ministry and Indian High Commission in Dhaka, sources said.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told The Daily Observer that soon after the news of JMB's alleged links to Burdwan blast came to the notice of the Foreign Office, Dhaka sought voluntary information from Delhi about the blast and wanted to know whether they need Bangladesh's support for the investigation.
Meanwhile, security agencies have searched the house of Masum alias Sajjid, alias Masud Rana, alias Sheikh Rahmatullah alias Borhan on Monday in Narayanganj, neighbours told The Daily Observer.
The anti-terror unit picked up Masum's fourth brother Monowar Hossain alias Mona and took him into custody on Monday morning for questioning. Mona works as a wielder at a workshop in Bandar area.
During the search the security officials sought information about the relatives of Masum and others who live in his parental house in Farazikanda area. The security officials wanted to know whether Sajjid remained in touch with his family.
Masum has five brothers and four sisters. They all were born in their parent's house. His father Siddique worked as a labourer in Latif Bawany Jute Mills in Siddirganj. He died when Masum was a minor.
His eldest brother Qauyum Miah is by profession a cook, while his next brother Humayun alias Borhan is an expatriate worker in Malaysia. He has come home on a three-month vacation. The third brother Mamun is a teacher at a government high school in Narayanganj.
Among the four sisters, three of them are married. Two of the sisters and two brothers Qauyum and Mona live in Farazikanda area in their parental house.
The detective police also learnt that his nephew Jumman was still in Jihadi war in Afghanistan. Jumman was once arrested by Bandar police station for his militant activities, family sources said.
The house was also visited by TV crew and journalists, which drew huge crowds in the neighbourhood.
The detained jihadi Sajjid alias Sheikh Rahmatullah, the mastermind of Burdwan blast in India, is said to be Masum born in Narayanganj, near Dhaka.
Indian anti-terror special unit picked up the kingpin Sajjid near Kolkata airport on Saturday. He is blamed for planning and organising the JMB operations in India.
Masum was first arrested in 1997 with bomb making materials. After his release he adopted Masud Rana as his name and was again arrested in 2007 with detonators for hand-made bombs. After five years he was released on bail. Since then he was untraced.










Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
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