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.

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.