West Bengal (Islamist/Other Conflicts): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2016

With Malda District emerging as the "capital' of Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN), the internal security committee in West Bengal has decided to meet officials of central agencies dealing with the issue in the state, Economic Times reports on January 2. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started 30 cases of FICN smuggling in which the agency found links with terror modules and money laundering networks. In 2015, the Border Security Force (BSF) seized INR 2,60,82,000 of FICN from the Malda border alone and apprehended 24 couriers."Every day they are changing their modus operandi. The most serious issue is not being able to reach the kingpin of these rackets. In no case, we could arrest the handlers. The couriers are arrested and the links get disconnected. At least five agencies are now working together on FICN. However, the seized amount is only 10 per cent of the total flow," said a senior official of the committee. The couriers make 2 to 5 per cent on each consignment; profits are huge for those who run the trade. The kingpins get 50 per cent of the amount smuggled into India. Moreover, the racketeers often have links to the terror modules. Mobile phones have reduced the risk, giving smuggling a boost and attracting more people into the racket. The network of Grameenphone, a leading telecom operator in Bangladesh, spills over into the Indian side, making it easier for the smugglers to coordinate their act. Read less...

As investigators probe deeper into the fake passport racket of Baguiati (Kolkata), there is emerging evidence of a possible JamaatulMujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) link, The Times of India reports on January 9. Sources say Bangladeshi national Hafeez Sheikh alias Nur Mohammad, will play a pivotal role in understanding the modus operandi of the gang. "It is only his questioning that can lead us to the rest of the gang based in Noida," said an investigating officer. "We plan to send teams to Noida, Pathankot and Ludhiana to verify certain addresses. It is clear that several Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals have used fake passports prepared by him. In turn, someone must have collected used and expired passports from north Indian passport offices. We need to ascertain if there is a HuJI link to it because we have found certain numbers from Europe and the middleeast," informed a source.Sheikh hails from Chittagong District in Bangladesh and seems to have used a real passport but fake visa to cross over to India through Nadia District in West Bengal. Hafeez came to Kolkata about two years ago and started a tour and travel business at Netaji Nagar in south Suburban Kolkata. Read less...

Five persons, including a suspected Bangladeshi national, have been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police along with Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) having face value of INR 35,00,000 on January 10, reports PTI. Acting on a tip off, the STF team conducted a raid at a businessman's house in Posta Police Station area limits and nabbed the five Trinath Mandal, Sanjay Mandal, Prabas Mandal, Pradip Mandal and Sanjay Singh along with FICN. According to STF source, Trinath is supposed to be a Bangladeshi who entered India through Malda District. The other four of the group were residents of Baishnabnagar of Malda, STF official said. Read less...

A week into the Malda violence, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials on January 11 admitted that the West Bengal District remains a ‘difficult area’ for the agency to work in, reports Daily Mail. “It is true that Malda has been a difficult area in terms of its communal aspect and the territorial reason. It is a sensitive belt…There is a lot of work to be done,” NCB Deputy Director General (eastern zone) SK Sahu stated. Sahu said that since the money flow is high, the crime rate is also alarming in that region. “We do carry out sensitisation drives involving the state government and central agencies and constantly coordinate with them. We involve local panchayats (village councils) and include the local population into the economic process so that they don’t indulge in such illegal drug business,” he said. Read less...

The central security agencies have raised an alarm against multiple placement agencies that have grown across Kolkata and border Districts, The Times of India reports on January 12. It was found that such agencies were involved in the Baguiati fake passport case and the Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) racket neutralised in Posta by the Kolkata Police STF on January 10. According to sources, these placement agencies were offering jobs to labourers using fake documents and then forcing them to become fake currency couriers. Several youths from Malda and Murshidabad Districts are employed as unskilled labourers in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The FICN racketeers target these youths and use them as carriers. Read less...

The Malda (West Bengal) District administration has begun a drive to destroy the extensive poppy cultivation in the District, as stated by senior officials of Excise Department on January 13, reports The Hindu. Senior officials said that poppy cultivated on nearly 500 acres had been destroyed in Kaliachak and adjoining areas over the past one week. “The drive started on January 5 and till today evening (January 13), 1,500 bighas (495 acres) of poppy cultivation has been destroyed in a joint operation where the police, BSF and excise department are involved,” the official said.Other than poppy cultivation, smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) is also a major concern for law enforcement authorities in the District which shares a border with Bangladesh. FICN amounting approximately INR 30 million were seized in the District in 2015 and 105 cases were registered. Also, 187 cases of possessing illegal arms were registered in Malda in 2015. Read less...

The Border Security Force (BSF) in association with West Bengal Excise Department, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have begun destruction of poppy being cultivated close to the Indo-Bangladesh border in Kaliachak area of Malda District, The Times of India reports on January 16. Kaliachak is considered a major production centre for opium and a hub of cross-border smuggling. While narcotics are trafficked across the border to Bangladesh, Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) is received in return. This FICN is circulated from Kaliachak to the rest of the country."We are conducting a drive to destroy poppy plants in the Sahabajpur Mouza that is close to the international border. Apart from BSF personnel, Excise Department staff and officers from the local Police Station are involved in this activity. So far, we have succeeded in destroying poppy plants on 1,450 bighas of land. We are using tractors and other far equipment to detroy the plants. Security personnel have been deployed to prevent any law and order situation," a senior BSF officer said on January 16.The poppy, cultivated in the border areas of Golapganj, Sahabajpur and Sasani Parbadyanathpur is converted into Opium, Brown Sugar and Heroin. The poppy crop is sown in November-December and harveted in February-March. "We started our operations from January 8. We suspect that local criminals were aware that we would launch this drive and made an attempt to thwart us by engaging in violence on January 3. However, this ploy did not work and all state and central agencies have come together to destroy the crop. In 2015, we had destroyed poppy being cultivated on nearly 5,573 bighas in Kaliachak and neighbouring parts," the officer added. Read less...

Intelligence officers of the Border Security Force’s (BSF) and Malda Police on January 18 arrested a man, Enarul Islam, considered to be one of the key figures in the Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) smuggling ring that thrives across the IndiaBangladesh border, Alaong with FICN amounting to INR 8,00,000, Hindustan Times reports on January 20. Police cornered the accused, a Bangladeshi citizen, in the Baburhat area in the Malda District of West Bengal. The arrest took place under the Kaliachak Police Station jurisdiction. Read less...

The Border Security Force (BSF), on January 18, arrested two persons and seized a pistol and bullets near Petrapole in North 24-Parganas District, reports The Times of India. Two have been arrested by the on charges of carrying the illegal weapon with the intention to smuggle it to Bangladesh. "Around 11 pm on Monday, the 40Bn BSF received a tip-off an alert was received by troops of the 40Bn BSF of a possible movement of weapons couriers near the Petrapole Border Outpost. A special operation was launched at 11.40 pm. After midnight BSF stopped and searched BSF stopped two men on a motorcycle and from which they recovered and shortly after midnight a motorcycle was spotted near the International Border. The vehicle was stopped and a search revealed a plastic bag with a country-made 9 mm pistol, a magazine and eight rounds of ammunition. The two men were also were also carrying three mobile phones. The duo was handed over to the Bongaon Police along with the seized items," a senior BSF officer said. Read less...

We have arrested a Bangladeshi national with fake money of the face value of Rs 8 lakh. We have started an investigation into the incident,” said Malda police superintendent Prasun Banerjee. On January 19, National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths appealed before a Malda court for custody of the accused. The NIA is already investigating a couple of cases of fake money in the district and indicated they could follow up on this case as well. Police sources told the arrested person is resident of Shibganj Police Station area under Chapai Nawabganj District of Bangladesh.Security officials began tracking Enarul’s movements when they noticed his frequent visits to the country. “The most interesting part of this case is that Enarul didn’t enter India illegally. He came here with valid passport and other documents. Moreover, this is not the first time that he has come to India with valid documents,” a senior officer of the District police said, adding they had received a tip off about Enarul’s illegal activities in India.In February 2015, Enarul came to Malda and stayed at Kaliachak for over a month and returned to Bangladesh. He came to Malda on November 21, 2015 again with a valid passport and visa, and was scheduled to return to Bangladesh by April 10 this year. He had come to Malda in 2014 as well. Intelligence officers ascertained that Enarul’s role was to recruit ‘carriers’ to circulate FICN in India as well as find safe locations to smuggle the notes in to the country. Read less...

On January 21, two people lost their lives in an explosion while they were allegedly making crude bombs at Dubrajpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal, reports Zee News. The incident occurred at Dubrajpur in Birbhum late last night. The Police have recovered a huge quantity of explosives from the site. Over the past one year, West Bengal has been under the scanner of security agencies as a "secure hideout" for agents of Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI).It is feared that that banned organisations like the JamaatulMujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) has spread its network in Howrah, and both North and South 24Parganas Districts and set up organisational bases in Districts like Murshidabad, Nadia, Bardhaman and Birbhum. Read less...