Online Desk : A top leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), allegedly involved in the 2018 Bodh Gaya blast case, was arrested from Murshidabad district of West Bengal early Friday.
Indian police officials confirmed the arrest, reports Hindustan Times. Abdul Karim is an Indian national and hails from Murshidabad’s Shamshergunj area.
Karim alias Boro Karim was arrested from Kashimnagar village in Suti area by the anti-terrorist squad of the special task force (STF) of Kolkata Police and Murshidabad Police in a joint operation.
A district police officer, who did not want to be identified, said while speaking to HT that Karim was hiding in Karnataka and returned to West Bengal recently along with some migrant workers.
Aparajita Rai, the deputy commissioner of police (STF), said Karim was among the top three JMB terrorists wanted in India.
“Boro Karim was the main leader of the Dhuliyan module and would actively supply logistics and support and shelter top leaders. His name was mentioned as the main operative by JMB terrorists arrested in Bangladesh,” Rai said from Kolkata.
“In 2018, we seized a substantial quantity of explosives and jihadi material from his house during a raid but he escaped,” she added.
STF received information that Karim offered shelter to JMB’s top leader Salahuddin Salehin when he visited India.
Y Raghuvamshi, the superintendent of police of Jangipur police district, said Karim hails from Chandnidaha village in Shamserganj.
“Karim has four children. We were looking for him for a long time. We have come to know that Karim was hiding in Karnataka. He recently returned to Murshidabad with some migrant labourers,” a senior district police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
A relative of Karim, who did not want to be identified, said he used to drive a tractor at a brick kiln in Kankuria village and went missing around two and a half years ago.
“Karim did not contact his family in 29 months. On Thursday evening, he visited the home of his aunt, Safeda Bibi, at Kashimnagar. Police arrested him around midnight,” the relative said.
Another JMB terrorist of the same name, who went by the alias Chhoto Karim, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2018.
A low-intensity bomb had exploded in Bodh Gaya on January 19, 2018, hours after Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama had finished a sermon at the Mahabodhi Temple.The NIA had arrested five people in connection with the case.
