On 30th December, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bengaluru imposed a sentence of seven years of rigorous imprisonment on Zahidul (Jahidul) Islam, a Bangladeshi national associated with the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh India (JMBI). He was found guilty of several charges, including conspiracy, fundraising for terrorist activities, dacoity and the acquisition of ammunition along with training gullible Muslim youths from Bengal and Assam for jihad. Additionally, the court has levied a fine of Rs 57,000 on him.
A senior officer informed, “The case, which led to the conviction of 11 accused individuals, was initially registered by the Bengaluru City Police in June 2019 after receiving information from the NIA’s Kolkata branch during the investigation of the Burdwan blast case. The NIA subsequently took over the probe.” He is the JMB “amir” (chief) of India. Zahidul and JMB chief Salahuddin Salehin escaped in 2014 after the former had been detained by Bangladeshi authorities for his role in the 2005 serial blasts in Bangladesh.
Islam entered India illegally the same year and was implicated in the 2014 Burdwan blast case. After the incident, he fled to Bengaluru, where he and his companions worked to advance anti-Indian activities. He recruited Muslim youth from Assam and West Bengal to assist JMB’s operations. Furthermore, he was also connected to the Bihar’s Bodh Gaya explosion in January 2018, which targeted Buddhist pilgrims.
According to the NIA probe, Zahidul and his associates planned a string of thefts in Bengaluru in 2018 to raise money for JMB. The pilfered funds were utilized to build hideouts, buy munitions and prepare terrorists for attack. The police stated that they committed four dacoities throughout the city. Founded in Bangladesh in 1998, the JMB was outlawed in a number of nations, including Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Australia. The group, which is infamous for its extreme beliefs, aimed to create an Islamic state in Bangladesh with Sharia law, adopting the Taliban’s principles in Afghanistan.
The case was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019, which subsequently launched a significant operation targeting the terror network. During the investigation, the agency uncovered hand grenades, timer devices, electric circuits and materials for creating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the hideouts of Zahidul and his associates. Consequently, the NIA has successfully convicted 11 individuals involved in this case.
Zahidul is considered the brains behind the Bodh Gaya attack. He is also known by various names, including Kausar, Munna, Mizan, and Boma Miyan. In 2018, NIA officials arrested another accused Adil alias Assadullah, a resident of village Elsiabad in district Murshidabad of West Bengal in Bangalore. The police recovered mobile handsets, bank slips, handwritten notes in Bangla language and a note containing chemical formulas for preparation of IEDs. He was considered to be the right-hand man of Zahidul who is also wanted in various terror cases in Bangladesh. He was sentenced to 95 years of imprisonment by the Bangladeshi courts, however, he absconded from custody.
The agency had registered a case under IPC Sections 120, 121-A, 122, 123 & 153(A); Sec 16, 18 and 20 of UA (P) Act, 1967; Sec 14, 17 and 19 of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Delivery System, UA (P)Act, 2005; and Section 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act to investigate the recovery and explosion of IEDs near Kalchakra Maidan, Bodh Gaya, in Bihar.
The agency also nabbed two other Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists in Kerala in relation to Bodh Gaya blasts. The terrorists Abdul Karim and Mustafizur Rehman were apprehended for planting three IEDs at Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya in January.
