Bangladesh Attackers May Have Used Jharkhand Hideout

The recurrence of terror attack in Bangladesh on Eid is presumed to have been prompted by inept handling of crisis that erupted after Dhaka-bloodshed nearly a week back. While security forces remained busy in exploring hideouts of militants within Bangladesh after Dhaka crisis, terrorists involved in the heartrending terror attack are presumed to have crossed the border scurrying for 'cover' in obscure places such as bordering Pakur district of Jharkhand.

Jharkhand that shares boundary with Bangladesh through its Santhal Pargana region has ever been their safe hideouts either to escape the police dragnets after committing heinous acts or hold secret parleys to strategize their future course of action. Whether it is terrorist outfits such as ISIS, Indian Muzahiddin, Al Qaeda or JeM, they have been found active in the State time and again.

If sources in the intelligence agencies are to be believed, with the indiscriminate raids carried out by security forces in Bangladesh against militant outfits in connection with the terror attacks in Dhaka, a group of suspects is believed to have infiltrated into Jharkhand. They are supposed to be working in tandem with sleeper cells active in Pakur district of Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand and the conspiracy to launch sequel terror attacks in Bangladesh was hatched using their Jharkhand camp only. Incidentally, this is not the first occasion when terrorists active in neighbouring countries are using Jharkhand as their safe hideouts. Security forces have already had major breakthrough in exposing regular activities of operatives belonging to ISIS, IM, Al Quida, JeM, SIMI on several occasions in the State in the past.

It is learnt that key activists of Indian Mujahideen such as Imtiyaz Mujibullah, Numan, Taufiq and SIMI operative Haider Ali alias Black Beauty were nabbed from outskirts of Ranchi in connection with bomb blasts at Narendra Modi's rally at Patna in Bihar in October 2013-ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2014- while the key accused of Burdawan serial bomb blasts, Tariqul Islam alias Sadik alias Sumon of Jamat-ul-Mujahideen of Bangladesh was arrested from Sahebganj area of Jharkhand ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public meeting in Dumka on October 2 last year.

The militants associated to the ISIS have reportedly been drafted to hold regular meetings with the locals to motivate pro-Islam dwellers in sleepy hamlets of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal in particular. They are said to be funded from Saudi Arabia to work in tandem with ISIS associates active in the country.

As per the intelligence inputs, Cuttack district in Odisha is the new base-camp for ISIS operations in the eastern region. The Cuttack unit is said to have functioned under the leadership of one Abdur Rehman who had been entrusted with the task to disseminate teachings about the ISIS movement among pro-Islam masses in small places of Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. He was, however, subsequently arrested from Jammu and Kashmir and identified as Al Quida Chief in India and one of the masterminds of the most infamous Kandahar plane hijack incident in 1999 and American Centre blast incident at Kolkata in 2002.

Well-placed sources in the intelligence agencies claim that Rehman belongs to the organization called JeM and he was allegedly dubbed as agent of the ISIS in the region. Rehman had frequented Jharkhand and Bihar on several occasions in the past. He held public meetings in remote areas of Jharkhand and interacted with people in Muslim dominated areas directly by holding secret parleys as well.

In addition, during recent Assembly elections in Bihar, ISIS operatives were seen active in the State, though he could not be able to succeed in vitiating the electioneering. The ISIS is said to be running training camps for new recruits in Bihar. The action assumes greater significance in the light of the fact that the State shares international borders with Bangladesh and Nepal. The outfit has equal opportunity in West Bengal too to make its presence felt in league with Indian Mujahideen and Jamat-ul-Mujahideen that have strong base in the State.

To top it all, in view of the possible threat of infiltration from across the Bangladesh border by suspects, the Union Government has issued advisories to different States that share borders with Bangladesh, though this highly sensitive terrorist-prone state of Jharkhand was surprisingly not put on high alert for the reasons best known to the authorities concerned only. The five states that were put under high alert after Dhaka terror attack included West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram.