A four member delegation of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is arriving in Bangladesh today as part of its investigation into the Burdwan blast.
Sate minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal confirmed the news at a media briefing at the ministry yesterday.
Sources said the delegation would be led by Sanjeeb Kumar Singh, a high-ranked Indian security official.
“Bangladesh has already formed a committee comprising the heads of the Detective and Special Branches of police. The plan is to investigate the matter jointly,” the junior minister said.
During the visit, the two sides would share intelligence data regarding the blast and the NIA delegation might interrogate some people here, he said.
On October 2, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in a house in Burdwan, killing two suspected JMB militants. It also gave rise to fears that the Indian state of West Bengal might have turned into a major militancy hub.
A huge stash of bomb-making substances was seized from the spot of the blast. India subsequently warned Dhaka that the bombs being assembled there were for use in subversive activities in Bangladesh. Later, the NIA claimed that it had uncovered a JMB plot against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life because her stance against militancy had been very firm.
The state minister however did not say anything about whether they were going to launch any joint drive at the field level or how long the NIA team would stay in Bangladesh.
He said: “Bangladesh and India have been very strict in dealing with terrorism in this part of the world. We will obviously holds talk to improve mobility.”
West Bengal police have already arrested Sajid, a Bangladeshi national and a key commander of banned Islamist militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangaldesh (JMB).
Sajid said in interrogation that he and his wife Fatima had been training people up at the Shimulia Madrassa, teaching them jihadi doctrines and getting them ready to take part in terror attacks.
Sajid allegedly paid Rs8.75 lakh to another accused Kausar, also a Bangladeshi national, for the purchasing of land for a madrasa in Burdwan.
