Hawker helped 3 suspected terrorists get room on rent, reveals probe

KOLKATA: The three Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists, arrested by the Kolkata Police on Sunday, were staying at a rented house arranged by a hawker, who had been living in the same area of Haridevpur since the past 20 years.

After the three JMB members— identified as Naziur Rahman Pavel alias Joseph, Rabiul Islam and Mekail Khan alias Sheikh Sabbir— were arrested, the hawker had been absconding. Meanwhile on Monday, the trio was produced before the Bankshall Court and remanded in police custody till July 26.

According to sources, the hawker used to repair umbrellas in the area. He had taken the room on rent for his stay against Rs 1800 per month. Later, he again asked the landlord for another one accommodation facility as few of his acquaintances would be staying there.

After the trio shifted, the landlord had asked for their identity documents, which the hawker promised to provide soon. Cops also learnt that a few months ago the three accused and several others crossed the Indo-Bangladesh border at Malda and got divided into multiple groups. Cops suspect that they have been sent to India for fundraising purposes.

Though Pavel mostly stayed inside the house, the other two JMB members used to pose as fruit seller and mosquito-net seller to be able to do a little recce of the banks and jewelry shops in the locality for hatching robbery plans.

However, the arrested terrorists are being interrogated. Meanwhile, sleuths came to know that they were being instructed by JMB Al Ameen, who is at present lodged in a Bangladesh jail. For further information, Kolkata Police has been contacting its cross-border counterpart.