JMB operative, conspiring to help Burdwan blast case accused escape from jail, arrested

Asif Iqbal is the second JMB operative to be arrested in a week.

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KOLKATA: The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police arrested an alleged Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative.

Asif Iqbal alias Nadeem, a resident of Kulgachi village in Murshidabad district, was arrested from Santragachi railway station in Howrah district on Monday. He was produced before a court in Kolkata on Tuesday and remanded to police custody till March 5.

"Asif Iqbal alias Nadeem (22), an active JMB member since 2017, was arrested from Kolkata`s Santragachi railway station at 6.20 p.m. on Monday. He was produced today (Tuesday) before the court, which remanded him to 15-day police custody till March 5," an STF officer told news agency IANS.

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An active member of terror outfit JMB since 2017, Iqbal had gone to Chennai and was trained under Kausar, one of the key accused in Burdwan`s Khagragarh blast case in 2014. Kausar was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2018.

Iqbal is the second JMB operative to be arrested in a week. The STF had arrested a 22-year-old JMB operative Ariful Islam alias Arif from Babughat area of Kolkata on Saturday. He is said to be involved in the Bodh Gaya blast. 

Both Iqbal and Islam were a part of the conspiracy hatched to secure Kausar`s escape on the way from court to the Presidency Correctional Home, said the STF.