NIA chief warns of rising threat of Bangladesh terror group JMB
15 Oct 2019
Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) YC Modi on Monday warned of the rising threat of Benglashi terror group, the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is trying to spread its tentacles across India.
The NIA chief also shared a list of terror suspects arrested from different states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala that could be hosting these terrorists who have come in the guise of Bangladeshi immigrants.
"The NIA has shared with states concerned a list of 125 suspected activists who have close links with the JMB leadership," Modi said while addressing a meeting of chiefs of the Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS).
Addressing a conference of anti-terror agencies in New Delhi on Monday, Inspector-General (IG) of NIA, Alok Mittal, however, said 127 persons have been arrested in connection with cases linked to terror organisation ISIS from across 14 states in the country.
Mittal said that the 127 people arrested in ISIS-related cases over the years included 33 from Tamil Nadu, 19 from Uttar Pradesh, 17 from Kerala and 14 from Telangana.
He said some of the accused arrested in cases related to ISIS have accepted that they were radicalised by the mastermind behind the Easter Day bombings in Sri Lanka and by the preacher Zakir Naik.
"In three of these ISIS cases from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the accused have admitted that they were radicalised by Zahran Hashim's videos. Hashim, as we know, is the mastermind of the Easter day bombings in Sri Lanka," Mittal said.
Mittal, however, said the list, which was shared with the states, contains 130 suspects, adding that between 2014 and 2018, the JMB has set up 20-22 hideouts in Bengaluru as part of its efforts to spread base in South India.
He said the JMB started its activities first in 2007, initially in West Bengal and Assam, and then fanned out to other parts of the country.
Mittal said the JMB was keen to attack Buddhists temples to take revenge for the plight of Rohingiya Muslims in Myanmar. "The JMB even conducted a trial of rocket launchers in the Krishnagiri hills along the Karnataka border," he added.
"During the investigation, it was found that the 130 activists were in regular contact with the JMB leadership," he said.
Mittal said so far 127 people have been arrested in the country for their links with the Middle-East terror group ISIS and a majority of them have confessed that they were influenced by the video speeches of Mumbai-born Islamic preacher and terror accused Zakir Naik and mastermind of the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka Moulvi Zahran Hashmi.
He said during the investigation into the terror financing cases related to Jammu and Kashmir, it has come to light that there were systemic weaknesses in the J&K Bank as it was not following the KYC rules, was giving unsecured loans and had no systemic data.
"The terrorists and their sympathisers have taken advantage of the systemic weaknesses in the J&K Bank and was misusing the banking system," he said.
Referring to the attempts to revive terrorism in Punjab, Mittal said the banned terror group Khalistan Liberation Front has been conspiring to disrupt law and order and communal harmony in the state with the active support from across the border and with funding from countries like UK, Australia and France.
The inaugural session of the two-day national conference of chiefs of Anti-Terrorism Squad and Special Task Force (STF) that began in new Delhi was attended on Monday by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and minister of state (MoS) home affairs, G Kishan Reddy.
Former IB Special Director and present Nagaland Governor RN Ravi was also present at the meeting.