Bhopal: Four members of banned terror organisation Jamaat-e-Mujahideen-Bangladesh (JMB) were arrested from 2 locations in Bhopal on Sunday, the state’s anti-terrorist squad (ATS) said in a statement. According to the communique, an ATS team carried out raids in the Aishbagh and Karond areas in the early hours of Sunday based on a tip-off and made the arrests. A special court on Monday remanded the alleged tech-savvy jihadists of banned terrorist outfit -Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to 14-days custody. They were produced by the ATS team in the afternoon in heavily armed security.
The accused were arrested from rented accommodations in both localities. “The accused, Fazhar Ali, 32, Mohammad Aqueel, 24, Zaduruddin Pathan, 24 and Fazhar Zainul Abdeen, 32, all are residents of Bangladesh. They were involved in jihadi activities for which they were preparing a remote-base (sleeper cell) through which, they wanted to do serious anti-national incidents in the future,” read the statement. They were charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Foreigners Act.
A large quantity of jihadi literature, electronic equipment and incriminating documents have been found from the above accused, due to which, it has been known that the accused are active members of Jamaat-e-Mujahideen-Bangladesh (JMB) at the initial stage,” it added. The accused are being interrogated, said ATS deputy IGP Dr Ashish. 2 people, including a resident of Vidisha, have also been detained in connection with the case, he added.
MP home minister Narottam Mishra said “Those arrested in Bhopal were suspected members of proscribed organisation Jamaat-e-Mujahideen Bangladesh. We have recovered a large quantity of jihadi literature, electronic devices and documents from them. An investigation has started and any effort to spread terror will be met with strong action.” “After the ban, efforts are being made by the members of JMB to set up sleeper cells in different areas of India. The above JMB module is part of one such sleeper cell,” said the ATS release.