The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered several incriminating materials used for making improvised explosives and grenades, during a raid conducted in the Electronic city, Bengaluru. NIA had conducted the raid following the information disclosed by a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), terrorist Jahidul Islam alias Kausar, whom the agency had arrested on September 19, in connection with JMB Bengaluru module case.
Kausar has disclosed that after Burdhwan blast in 2014, he and his JMB associates took shelter at various hideouts in South India to escape arrest and to further the activities of JMB in India, NIA said.
“Accused Islam also pointed out the places in Krishnagiri hill in Tamil Nadu where he along with his JMB associates namely Habibur, Arif, Fahim alias Fahad had test-fired three rocket shells prepared by them using a crude device during June-October 2017 and the place where they had concealed the remnants of the third test-fired rocket shell,” the agency said.
The NIA has in the recent raid also seized the remnants of explosive materials such as eight batteries of 1.5 volts each, a hollow cylindrical carton used for launching the rocket shell and pieces of electrical wire.
A case had been registered after the NIA had on July 9, 2019, busted the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terror module in Bengaluru and arrested 3 terrorists belonging to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) module in Chikkabanavara village in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Live Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), hand grenades and other incriminating materials have also been recovered from the terror module. A plan to bomb several places in Karnataka has been foiled by the investigating agencies.
The NIA has seized 5 fabricated hand-grenades, 1 Timer-device, 3 electronic circuits and suspected explosives and ready-made IEDs from the location. It is speculated that NIA was fed the information of this terror ring by arrested JMB operative Habibur Rehman Sheikh.
Bengaluru has been the preferred location for the JMB terror outfit for carrying out their nefarious activities. In the past, the Bengaluru police had retrieved two live bombs from Ramanagara, 50 kilometres from Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru. The discovery of bombs came hours after a key operative of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Habibur Rehman Sheikh (28) alias Habibur or Sheikh was arrested in Karnataka.