West Bengal (Islamist/Other Conflicts): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2008

On January 8, Pravat Das, a militant of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), was arrested from Dakshin Parokata under the Samuktala police station limits in the Jalpaiguri district, reports Telegraph. According to Police sources, the militant was absconding since 2002. He was later remanded to 14 days of jail custody by the additional chief judicial magistrate of Alipurduar. Read less...

On January 10, a suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) cadre, Abbas Khan alias Akhdas Khan alias Mohsin Alam, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a fake currency racket in Kolkata, by the detective department from a house at Chamru Singh Lane in East Kolkata’s Narkeldanga area, reports Times of India. He had earlier been convicted by a Gujarat court for the Godhra violence but was released on bail. He had jumped parole and remained untraceable. An unspecified amount of fake currency notes of INR 500 and INR 1,000 denomination were recovered from him. Khan was subsequently remanded in police custody till January 15. Read less...

Two Bangladeshi nationals, with suspected links to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, were arrested from the Shibpur area of Howrah district in West Bengal on January 16, according to The Hindu. "Shamim Akhtar and Sheikh Alamgir were arrested on a tip-off from a former jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force whom they were trying to recruit," said Rajeev Kumar, Inspector General of Police (Special Operations). Believed to be part of the ISI’s espionage module, they were engaged in recruiting ex-servicemen to extract strategic information, he added. Read less...